Spotlight on Success: Earle Harrison
Earle Harrison has an entrepreneurial spirit. That’s how he became president of Triumph Technology and Handy Tech North America (www.handytech.us).
Harrison’s business is one of the fastest growing assistive technology businesses in the country.
Harrison, who is blind, earned his associate of applied science degree in physical therapy in 1992. After graduation, he practiced physical therapy for five years at a large company that provided rehabilitation services.
When any assistive technology need arose for his employer, Harrison was the “go-to guy.” During this time, he started an assistive technology consulting business on the side.
In 1997, Harrison continued to build his experience in the assistive technology field when he joined Henter-Joyce, the software manufacturer of Job Access With Speech, (JAWS) in a training capacity. JAWS is a screen reader that converts text to speech for people who are blind and visually impaired. In 2001, Harrison was promoted to regional training manager at Henter-Joyce, serving the south central and northwestern United States.
In 2002, Harrison was offered a position with the Minnesota System of Technology to Achieve Results (STAR) Program. But Harrison continued to feel the entrepreneurial bug and in 2005 left STAR to start his own business, Triumph Technology. “I like adapting off-the-shelf technology to work with assistive technology for people who are blind and visually impaired.”
Triumph Technology partnered with Code Factory, a Spanish company that manufactures screen reading and magnification software for mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA’s). This enabled Triumph to become the foremost company in the country for mobile solutions for blind and visually impaired customers.
In 2006, Harrison developed another key partnership with Handy Tech, a German company that manufactures Braille devices. These devices can be paired with mobile phones or with desktop or laptop computers, increasing the scope and flexibility of Triumph’s line of products. Triumph assumed the name Handy Tech North America and became the master North American distributor for Handy Tech products in the United States and Canada.
Harrison says he just jumped into the business. “I had a lot of faith in my own ability to pick good products!” Harrison backs the products he sells, “As a rule of thumb, if we don’t own it, we don’t sell it!”
Handy Tech employs about a half dozen people. The majority of Harrison’s staff are blind or visually impaired. He encourages all of the staff to sit in on training sessions and learn about the products. “Our sighted staff know just as much about the products as the blind or visually impaired staff do.”
Harrison feels he has learned a great deal about being an entrepreneur from his former employer, Ted Henter, co-founder of Henter-Joyce. Harrison says, “Ted was very gracious. From the general manager to the housekeeping staff, he always treated everyone the same. In many ways, he was a fantastic mentor!”
Harrison boils down the management part of the business to communication. “It’s just the facts…kind of like text messaging.” He feels he has a good team in place, “just like a well-cast movie.”
Harrison is diligent about growing his business. “When you’re starting out, expenditures always outweigh income, but you just keep after it. We go to all the big blindness-and-disability-related events where technology is featured. We also have a powerful Web presence. When we put out a press release about a new product or service, the phones ring.”
Handy Tech has just moved out of Harrison’s home and into a 4,000-square-foot office in Columbia Heights, Minn. Besides increased office space, Handy Tech now has a training lab, a repair shop and space for shipping and receiving.
“We just held a training workshop for 40 people in our training lab. The lab enables our training manager to do more training in-house and reduce her time on the road. We also rent space to other assistive technology trainers so they can train more than one person at a time.”
Harrison adds proudly, “At Handy Tech North America, we have built a good reputation for providing tech support after we close the sale.”
Indeed, Handy Tech’s reputation helped it garner the “Employer of the Year” award for 2008 from the Minnesota State Council On Disability.
Harrison has big goals for the future. “I want to increase training opportunities for customers, make training and assistive technology more affordable and create innovative packages to put technology in the hands of those who need it.”
As successful as Harrison is, sometimes he finds business associates don’t take him seriously because of his blindness. “When I go out on business calls, the person I’m dealing with often addresses the sighted staff person who serves as my driver. Sometimes it takes a while, but people eventually learn that I am the one responsible for making the deal and signing the checks.”
Harrison encourages people with disabilities who want to start their own business. “If you have a passion for something, go for it! You will put in a lot of hours and hard work, and if you have a good idea you will succeed. The worst thing that can happen is you will fail, but you can learn from those experiences too!”