Spring 2003

Product Spotlight - The Elegant Easel
Bruce Peterson, here with a partially assembled easel, always strives for top quality
 
“We started making easels for the General Services Administration (GSA) in the early 1970’s,” recalls Paul Fletcher, Quality Manager.  “They were made of aluminum, and reminded me of something made with a giant erector set.  About five years ago we went through a total redesign.”
 
According to Don Helsel, Director of Manufacturing, easel production accounts for five full-time jobs for blind and Deaf-Blind employees at the Seattle Lighthouse. “We have four full-time jobs in easel assembly; and another FTE over in the injection mold shop where we make the plastic corner pieces, leg supports, and adjusting knobs.  Easels were
one of the first products we started making under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act,” Don says.  JWOD mandates that government agencies purchase specified products and services from agencies employing people who are blind or otherwise severely disabled.
 
The Lighthouse produces two basic easel types: one with a white, dry erase board and another with a traditional green chalkboard.  “Our easels are used in hundreds of government meetings, conferences and presentations,” Don reports.  “Back in the beginning, the chalkboard was the more popular item, but now that trend has reversed. Over the past twelve months we sold 16,500 easels to government and military customers.  15,300 were dry erase and 1,200 were the green chalkboard easels.”
 
Paul further explains the easel redesign process.  “At the request of GSA, and in order to compete for government business against for-profit companies, we worked with a design firm to come up with virtually a whole new product,” he says.  “We kept two things in mind during the process: creating high-quality jobs for blind workers and enhancing user features.  You can still see the old aluminum easel stamped with the Seattle Lighthouse logo in lots of government offices in places like the Pentagon.  But, we are all extremely proud of our new generation of easels and the excellent jobs they provide.”

Horizons Main Page | Home