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Published: February 20, 2008
BY BRAD FRANKLIN

For Debra Ruh, Jesse Evans, Ed Ziegler, and Raymond Kenney, work has a way of imitating life. And life, though tough, has a way of making work seem like anything but.

The difference between those listed and most of the general public is that each has been touched in a special way by disabilities.

And TecAccess, located in the Rockville Commerce Center, gives its roughly 60 employees a chance to make a difference.

“I just want the same opportunities as anybody else,” Kenney said. “I know I have what it takes. Just give me a shot.”

Ruh, 49, did just that. As the proud parent of Sara Ruh, a 20-year-old who has Down’s syndrome, she understands.

“The biggest part was that we wanted to focus on how to include everyone,” Ruh recalled.

How she went about doing that was as impressive as it was clever. Her company is the one of the world’s leaders when it comes to Web and information-technology accessibility.

And to look at some of the company’s employees on any given day, it’s easy to see what their work means to them.

Kenney, 48, was involved in a car accident in 1994 that left him paralyzed from the chest down while Ziegler, 46, sustained a traumatic brain injury in an accident in 1982 that slowed down his thought processes significantly.

Evans, meanwhile, was born with a rare condition called spastic hemeperesis, which means he has no feeling on the entire right side of his body.

Basically, TecAccess has a mission to figure out how to make programs more accessible to people who have disabilities. And what better way to do that, Ruh said, than with people who themselves know what it’s like to be disabled?

“I think it’s pretty obvious from the work we do and the high level of our employees that what they do is important to them and they are valuable members of the business community,” she said.

Recently, the company was tabbed by Virginia Business magazine as the 2007 Small Business Success Story of the Year.
Virginia Business is owned by Media General, parent company of Richmond Suburban Newspapers and The Goochland Gazette.

“It was a real surprise,” Ruh noted, though the company has won many awards since its inception in 1998.

Ziegler, who is a master of voice-recognition software, says TecAccess gives him the kind of satisfaction other jobs couldn’t.

“When I come to work, I know I’m a part of something bigger than me,” he said simply.

“That’s one of the great things about working with TecAccess—putting my energy into helping other people.”

For Evans, coming to TecAccess was a blessing. He was months away from retirement when he was laid off just before Ruh started the business.

Luckily for both, she found Evans and credits him with much of the company’s success.

Kenney, meanwhile, finds a great deal of satisfaction in what he does, mentoring military veterans in the company’s disabled veterans program, DVET.

The program aims to increase a veteran’s employment opportunities by using a telecommuting model, preparing them to use computer technology and work in a wide array of professions.

“I’m the cheerleader,” Kenney joked. “I’m the one who tries to keep their spirits up while they’re going through the program. But they help me just as much as I help them.”

It would take weeks to explain how each of the group adds to the greater good.

But one common theme is the passion they all share for not only what they do but where they work.

Ziegler, who was a certified scuba diver prior to his accident, loves coming to work.

“I do a little bit of everything but it’s all to make things better,” he said. “I love helping other people.”

Kenney is the same way, saying he knows what it’s like to approach a place of business and not see ways to get inside.

“It’s hard for a lot of disabled people because they don’t have much to look forward to,” he said. “Here, they do. And if not, we’re trying to make things better for them out in the real world.”

Evans has a real appreciation for what it means to be surrounded by people who are in similar situations.

“We’ve all got something that holds us back but we’re all still people and we want to be treated that way,” he said.

That was the most basic reason Ruh started the company, to give people like Sara a better quality of life.

“There are 60 million Americans with disabilities,” she said. “And we’re trying to not only find solutions to make this world easier for them and to connect them, but we’re trying to do so while including them.”

Added Evans, “It’s not just a job. It’s more than that. I know we’re a part of something that helps and benefits not just those who are disabled but people who might not have any problems now but could end up disabled down the road. It’s good for everyone.”

“We’ve got strong, creative, loyal employees,” Ruh noted. “And it makes us a better company and our clients benefit from that.”

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