In 1995 the Van Vechten & Company team was asked by Johnson & Johnson to meet with a few of its executives who had been charged with developing a top secret operating company with the mission of creating new and innovative products and services for people with disabilities.   We were immediately retained to work alongside a core team of a half dozen gifted professionals to bring Independence Technology LLC, a Johnson & Johnson Company to life and to eventually bring the INDEPENDENCE® 3000 iBOT(TM) Mobility System to market. The iBOT(TM), which physically resembles a wheelchair, is so much more. It can carry you up and down stairs, it can raise you to eye level and balance you on two wheels, it can cross grass, gravel, curbs and uneven terrain effortlessly.

A lot of our initial work centered on learning everything we could about disabilities, sharing our knowledge and building an arsenal of tools, tactics and contacts required to launch what would be the most advanced robotic device ever created for human use. We even crafted a glossary of terms and etiquette guidelines booklet for company executives.

Somewhere along the way, the importance of what we were doing began to resonate at very personal levels for each of us involved in this project, because we knew we'd be changing lives and helping people live their lives to their fullest potential. Our commitment to disability causes and issues grew exponentially. We attended countless disability events, cause related meetings and gatherings that focused on the imbalance in the world for those with a disability. We spent countless hours meeting with many of the national leadership in disabilities, from researchers like Dr. Wise Young, to San Francisco radical activitists. Everyone had a story to share with us and we wanted to know it all.

Then in July of 1999 we told the world about iBOT(TM) with NBC News commentator John Hockenberry, himself a wheelchair user, on the hit show DATELINE NBC. A second story with John would run three years later, the day the FDA gave Independence Technology approval to bring the iBOT to market. In between we generated close to a million impressions through programs like the TODAY SHOW, CNN, CBS Morning and so much more.

Then in June of 2001, Jay Van Vechten, president of Van Vechten & Company, sustained injuries from a fall that would permanently change his life. He was now clinically a disabled American; a member of a huge minority 56 million strong, and in many circles would be viewed as a second-class citizen. He vowed to fight the stereotypes, open doors to opportunity, and to work within the corporate world - the world he knew best - to teach businesses how to better meet the needs of people with disabilities, thereby increasing profits and new opportunities for growth.

In 2004, the US Business Leadership Network, in tandem with the United States Chamber of Commerce, honored Jay when he was named Entrepreneur of the Year, for his work in disabilities. Most recently, Scientific American Magazine has announced that the Agency is one of 55 US businesses selected by leaders of the disability community for doing so much to help people with disabilities.   We're particularly proud that in the 10 categories of achievement mentioned, we were selected as #1 in communications/entertainment and government, topping the likes of CBS, NASA and NBC.

In recent years we've also been honored to work with the Achilles Track Club in New York for the New York City Marathon, with Shake A Leg Miami http://shakealegmiami.org/ on the launch of TeamParadise - pairing Olympic medallists sailors with sailors with disabilities to teach them how to become world class Paralympic competitors in the Beijing Games of 2008.

Five years ago we created a national editorial write-in campaign to celebrate the 10 th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we worked with Avis and Diversity Partners of New York to create Avis Access, the first national accessibility rental car program focused on meeting the needs of travelers with disabilities. We work with Open Doors in Chicago disseminating the results of a Harris Poll measuring travelers with disabilities needs and expectations when away from home.   We worked with Paralympic Skier Muffy Davis, when Muffy became the first person with paraplegia to enter the Pikes Peak Marathon. In the first year she came in 11 th place. This past year she claimed the number one slot all to herself. Go Muffy!

Most recently Van Vechten & Company was honored to be retained by the American Association of People with Disabilities, the premiere disability group in the nation, to direct public relations for the association's 15 th Anniversary Gala, featuring secretary of transportation Norman Mineta and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.