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Shari and Jessica Steward
are mentally and physically challenged, but with the help of their
mother, they provide a needed service in the community.
Retinitis pigmentosis has reduced their sight to less than 5%, as well
as leaving them developmentally disabled. However, they each graduated
from Special Education programs at the Developmental Learning Center.
After graduation, Shari and Jessica wanted to work, but their
combination of disabilities made it very difficult to find jobs. They
didn’t waste time and energy on what they couldn’t do. Instead, they
concentrated on what they could do, and solved the problem by starting
their own document shredding business, called “Sisters Shredding.” It
combines their deep-seated interest in recycling with a job they enjoy
and can do well. How did they progress from the idea of working at their
own business to the reality of becoming successful local entrepreneurs?
According to their mother, Shannon Hull, there are a number of people
and reasons for their achievement.
Umpqua Community Development Corporation is one of those reasons. This
non-profit corporation, in partnership with Connecting Oregon for Rural
Entrepreneurs (CORE), offers many community services to small businesses
in rural areas. One of these services is to provide assistance programs
and no-cost or low-cost classes, including how to determine the
feasibility of a business and develop a practical business plan.
Shannon Hull got help with her plan and took a small business class,
which increased her eligibility for a loan. “That loan was very
important to us,” Hull says. “Without it, we couldn’t have bought the
lockable totes and cabinets we needed for collecting and securing our
customers’ documents.”
Besides privacy and security considerations for the intact documents,
arrangements had to be made for recycling the shredded material. They’d
already purchased two heavy-duty shredders and had a truck, SHRED 1,
equipped with the needed Tommy Lift, to transport the locked documents
to the shredders and carry the shredded material to the recycling site.
The sisters were ready to go to work, so Shari and Jessica handed out
brochures that described the shredding service to potential customers.
At first, business was slow. It took time for word about Sisters
Shredding to circulate through the community, but their client list
gradually increased. By the end of the first year they had steady
customers.
Their business has doubled since then, and continues to grow. Today
these extraordinary sisters have a diverse client base which includes
health care providers, legal professionals and county agencies.
-contributed by Laceta
Flammang |
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