Texas computer store trains people with disabilities, senior citizens

From the Fort Worth Business Press in Texas:

David Vaughan’s tinkering with computers over the years booted him into a new career in a retail space in which he had longed hoped to open his own business.

His tech know-how and uncommon business approach also are winning the Fort Worth entrepreneur rave reviews and numerous awards.

Vaughan spent 10 years working at Sabre Inc., but as older family members began asking him for computer help, he left the corporate world and opened Computers Made Easy almost three years ago.

Located in the retro 1940s’ Westcliff Shopping Center in former Fort Worth Mayor Bob Bolen’s old Toy Palace - where Vaughan, 47, spent many happy hours of his youth – the training center teaches senior citizens how to navigate the tech world, from PCs to cell phones to digital cameras.

“I’ve always been a tinkerer and an inventor,” Vaughan said. “And I’ve always wanted to open a store here. It didn’t matter to me what. After helping some of my older relatives, I realized it would be perfect to open a training facility specifically for seniors to take a slower approach in teaching them how to use computers and other technology that oftentimes just collects dust in their homes.”

Computers Made Easy offers newbies, young and old, core classes in Internet, e-mail, digital cameras, word processing, spreadsheet and presentations. Core classes meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday for two hours a day for one week. Classes cost $55, while one hour of individualized training runs $25 at the facility and $35 at the customer’s place.

Aside from the 12 Internet work stations, a private conference room and a 20-seat seminar area for lectures, meetings and multimedia presentations, Computers Made Easy has a repair department, an Internet café and a full-service post office. Video conferencing services are set to begin soon in a space that can be rented out to small businesses.

“Because of the name of the place, we had more and more people coming in thinking we just repair computers,” Vaughan said. “So we added a repair department, which has been doing really well. A lot of places you just drop off and pick up your computer and you never see or talk to the technician. We, by design, have our repair department up at the front so you can talk to the technician and get advice. People know we give good, honest advice. It’s not just the sell,” he said.

Although the center caters to older clientele, the specialty at Computers Made Easy is training customers with physical disabilities. Vaughan quickly realized that his slower approach to instructing seniors would also apply to disabled people.

Using adaptive technology, the training center has the most current versions of software that magnify the computer screen and speak all of the text on the screen. Instructors also teach keyboarding using a program that speaks the keystrokes as they are typed; voice recognition software also is available. Computers Made Easy is an approved training center for the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitation Services, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Veterans Administration.

Not only does Vaughan instruct disabled people, he also goes a step beyond and hires them to teach others and to refurbish donated computers for resale. Currently, Computers Made Easy has a staff of 15, and about 10 or 12 of them have a disability, Vaughan said.

“Our focus is people with disabilities. We do anything we can to hire more people and to train more people with disabilities,” he said.

“Whether they’re blind, have low vision, have cerebral palsy or Down syndrome or maybe are autistic, a lot of people just won’t give disabled people the chance,” Vaughan said. “They don’t get past the interview because of their disability. We’re agnostic to that. If it’s the right person for the job, they’re hired.”

This business practice has earned Vaughan several honors, including being named Professional Man of the Year by the Association of Retarded Citizens, the Small Employer of the Year Award from the Texas Governor’s Committee on People With Disabilities and the 2009 Business of the Year from DARS. On Aug. 7, Vaughan will accept the Employer of the Year Award from Texas Advocates, a nonprofit group run by and for people with disabilities.

Tim Harton, director of marketing and operations, agreed that disabled people often are ignored. He tells a favorite

story to illustrate how the store is oblivious to people with disabilities.

“When one of our very best technical people applied for a job, I interviewed him and hired him on the spot,” Harton said. “He had been in a car accident when he was a young man and had lost the use of his right hand. I never even noticed until we shook hands – we had to shake with our left hands. He said, ‘I hope this doesn’t prevent me from getting the job.’ I said, ‘No, that seals it up.’”

Vaughan is expanding services to more corporations, the Hispanic market and to more nonprofit agencies. Computers Made Easy has partnered with Undiscovered Abilities, a nonprofit that was founded by Harton, a Vietnam vet, to help returning veterans and people with disabilities learn technology and find resources and jobs.

“Vets helping vets is what vets want to do,” Harton said. “They need to be aware of what’s available to them and through technology; we can help them do that.”

Harton, who also grew up in the same neighborhood near Vaughan, said philanthropy is one of the training center’s most effective marketing tools.

“The Cornerstone Women’s Shelter teaches computer classes on computers donated by Computers Made Easy. Spanish programmed computers that we have designed have been sent to missions in Central America to help educate the youth in that region. We have an IT contract at Cassata High School at a fraction of the normal rate,” Harton said. “We’re doing work we feel needs to be done.”

Vaughan once considered turning the business into a nonprofit but decided against it.

“I may start branding us as the ‘non-nonprofit agency,’” Vaughan said. “We’re fulfilling a need for people with disabilities without being a nonprofit and showing that you don’t have to be big or a nonprofit to have an impact in your community,” he said. “You can be a struggling, little company but still reach out and help.

“I’ve been in Fort Worth all my life and love it. This is a great way to give back to my neighborhood and to the community.”