SALINA — Accessibility Solutions Inc. works to “allow people with mobility challenges to stay in the homes they may have lived in for 30 or 40 years.” That’s according to Victoria Fox, one of the firm’s three owners, who spoke with CNYBJ on Feb. 19. “We believe that people should be able to access a […]
SALINA — Accessibility Solutions Inc. works to “allow people with mobility challenges to stay in the homes they may have lived in for 30 or 40 years.”
That’s according to Victoria Fox, one of the firm’s three owners, who spoke with CNYBJ on Feb. 19. “We believe that people should be able to access a building anytime, anywhere,” she says.
Accessibility Solutions, a 20-year-old firm, sells stairlifts, vertical and incline wheelchair lifts, residential elevators, and commercial elevators with limited capacity. The limited-capacity elevators are referred to as “lulas,” short for “limited use, limited application,” as Fox described it.
The company is based at 115 Luther Ave., off 7th North St., in Salina. It also has a second office in Coxsackie in Greene County, south of Albany.
Accessibility Solutions employs 13 people, including the owners. Three of the 13 workers staff the Coxsackie office.
Besides Fox, the owners include Jim Whaley and Clayton Aitchison, III.
Accessibility Solutions also sells dumbwaiters, a small freight elevator in a wall that “moves product,” says Fox.
“They start around 200 pounds and I think they can go up to 500 pounds, maybe a little more,” she adds.
Accessibility Solutions will install the products it sells and provide the necessary maintenance.
“Well, after a unit’s installed, manufacturers recommend that basically a minimum of two times a year it should have maintenance,” says Fox.
Accessibility Solutions has completed more than 2,300 installations since it launched in 1996, says Fox.
A company technician can provide oil, grease, lubrication, and check of the safety features. “Letting the customer know in advance [if] any parts may be wearing out … [and] need to be replaced,” Fox explains.
The company has maintenance accounts, more than 1,000 commercial and residential customers, she adds.
Accessibility Solutions’ product suppliers include Oconomowoc, Wisconsin–based Bruno Independent Living Aids; Brampton, Ontario–based Savaria; Allentown, Pennsylvania–based Handicare; and Orlando, Florida–based Acorn.
Savaria provides the 1,400-pound capacity elevators and the wheelchair lifts. Bruno provides wheelchair lifts and stair chairs. Both Handicare and Acorn supply stairlifts, Fox says.
Accessibility Solutions will order wheelchair lifts, dumbwaiters, and elevators from its vendors, although it keeps stairlifts in stock, she adds.
The firm grew its revenue about 15 percent during 2015 compared to the previous year, according to Fox. She also projects the company will increase its sales another 10 percent to 15 percent during 2016.
About the firm
The owners of Accessibility Solutions previously worked for Midstate Elevator Company, which operated at 500 Plum St. in Syracuse.
As Fox recalls it, Midstate Elevator was sold to Dover Elevator in 1994 because one of the Midstate partners had died.
The company then spun off into Dover Accessibility Products.
A year later, the company decided to dissolve Dover Accessibility Products “putting us out of work” on Christmas 1995, Fox recalls.
The owners got together and decided to incorporate because they were out of work. “And there wasn’t anyone else picking up the slack of this product line,” she adds.
The owners had discussed their situation with the manufacturers and asked if they could continue selling their products if they started their own business.
A fourth person, John Bartle, helped Fox, Whaley, and Aitchison launch the new firm. Bartle is now semi-retired and works part time, according to Fox.
Accessibility Solutions started in the basement of Fox’s home in North Syracuse. It also utilized a warehouse on South Salina Street for the products.
The company then moved into a building that formerly housed Walk on Wood in October 2013, eliminating the need for the warehouse.
Accessibility Solutions initially leased its space in the structure until the owners bought the building from the previous owner a year later, according to Fox.
Accessibility Solutions has conducted installations for commercial clients that include Syracuse University, Cornell University, St. Lawrence University, SUNY
Cortland, One Group — an insurance and benefit-consulting business, Samaritan Center in Syracuse, and various Salvation Army locations.
Accessibility Solutions covers most of New York state, with the exception of the Buffalo and New York City areas, Fox says.