THE QUIET ACHIEVERS

People with disabilities try to find satisfying jobs but there are few available for them. In Springfield Ohio, TAC Industries Inc. has created an enterprise dedicated to providing gainful employment to disabled people of all ages. The people at TAC are also Quiet Achievers who manufacture several product lines.

A major line is cargo netting for the USAF at a volume of 11,000 nets per month. They also repair another 2,000 nets per month. Their work force is a team of employees of which 82 percent happen to be disabled citizens. TAC Industries is a not-for-profit company with revenues of $26 million and employs about 630 disabled and non-disabled employees.

Hydrapower International Inc. has installed a 6 ft x 70 ton press brake and set TAC up as a house account with special discounts. Adding this new equipment to their current machinery enables TAC to perform many standard metal fabrication operations, including breaking/forming, punching, notching, spot welding, assembly, cutting, drilling, deburring, painting and powder coating finishes.

TAC now builds metal products ranging from fabricated metal parts and assemblies to finished items, including door stiffeners, cabinet bases & shelves, conveyor buckets, finished sheet metal parts, custom cut banding, and precision cut-to-length parts for customers such as Rittal, Sweet Manufacturing, Diamond Packaging, K&K Tool and Morgal.

Finding TAC was an incredible coincidence for Hydrapower, because their CEO raised a son, now 19, who has cerebral palsy (CP). He has always been called the Quiet Achiever, and Hydrapower had long ago adopted the same slogan.

Rob Wissing and his wife have devoted the past 19 years of their lives to helping their son achieve independence and functionality. When he was born, the ?experts? said he would never walk or function independently and should be institutionalized. That presented a sizable challenge. CP has no cure. It is similar to having a stroke at time of birth. Those who have it are Quiet Achievers who do not ask for special treatment. Having it is like playing poker and only getting 3 cards dealt in 7 card stud game. They have to play the hand they were dealt and they meet life at a constant disadvantage.

During the past 19 years, their son had seven major reconstructive surgeries on his hand, arm, leg, hip, foot and eyes. Until high school, almost every summer he was laid up in a cast while other kids were at the pool or the beach. Vacations were not on the agenda for the parents during those 19 years. Swimming is the best therapy. If you live in a cold climate a move south is necessary. This is not an option.

If you own a business and have to move it, you will hear of your competitors saying your company is bankrupt or out of business and worse. Meanwhile, there is a lot to be done to facilitate the move and you have to find therapists and surgeons in the new location. You will also need a house which is wheel chair friendly and has a heated pool.

Swimming will encourage bilateral muscular development better than other exercise and physical improvement comes slowly. Although we disliked them, the computer games improved hand/eye coordination. After the first six years, we looked back and evaluated the Quiet Achiever. He was not only walking he was riding a bike and was going to school. Great! There was still a long way to go though. More surgery and more therapy were scheduled. These are the rapid learning years and it meant we had to gear up the teaching. Growth spurts meant continual rework of AFOs, Splints and Heel Cord surgery.

Years passed and therapy and surgery with expenditures already high in six figures were continuing and swimming had really benefited this Quiet Achiever. In August 2001, he won the MVP trophy at the Marco Island YMCA swim fest. He graduated high school last May. Now he is almost 20, working and driving and a productive member of society.

Our Quiet Achiever has taught us a lot and we have recently established the CPW Trust to raise funds to engage a ghostwriter to help sort out the huge volume of records and files we?ve kept on this history, then create and publish a detailed guidebook for other parents so we can help them through the learning curves and eliminate dead ends and give them hope when the situation seems hopeless.

TAC Industries has devoted a huge effort to employing the disabled and they have more enlightening stories to tell. We hope this will result in many more Quiet Achievers being able to enjoy productive lives. We believe the successful members of the fabricating industry can contribute to continued advancement of therapy, training and vocational opportunities. A tax deductible contribution to the CPW Trust would be gratefully appreciated and would enable the creation and publication of a valuable guide book for future Quiet Achievers.

TAC Industries, Inc., 2160 Old Selma Road, Springfield, OH 45505, 937-525-7400, Fax: 937-525-7401, www.tacind.com.

Hydrapower International Inc., Box 2649, Marco Island, FL 34146, 239-642-5379, Fax: 239-642-4032, www.hydrapower-intl.com.