BusinessReport.com

Daniel LeBlanc is in pain.

The Port Allen native has nerve damage, and he’s undergone three unsuccessful back operations. He manages his condition with medication, but it never really goes away; his health problems led him to take early retirement from his state job in 1999. A few years later, he learned how to make turkey calls, which are generally wood or wood and slate devices hunters use to mimic the sounds of their quarry.

“I work at my own pace,” he explains. “It takes my mind off my pain.”

But it wasn’t until he completed a program from Louisiana Rehabilitation Services and the University of New Orleans that his pastime became a business. Exceptional Entrepreneurs of Louisiana, or ExcEL, trains people with disabilities to start their own businesses. Companies started by ExcEL graduates include a bread mix manufacturer, a flower shop, a Jani-King franchise, and a recording studio, according to program officials. Anthony Sevins, a disabled veteran from the Lafayette area, was awarded a $5.3 million contract for his catering business.

LeBlanc makes a dozen types of turkey calls, including one made from a turkey bone, and either wholesales them to stores or sells them at

dannysturkeycalls.com. He knows he can’t make them in huge numbers; the idea is to continually improve quality so he can charge a better price.

“It has certainly changed my life,” he says. “I really don’t want to get too large. I want to get better. I want to make a product that everybody wants.”

ExcEL, which marks its 10-year anniversary Sept. 10, is part of the state’s broad vocational rehabilitation program. More than 800 people have enrolled in ExcEL; the services have cost the state nearly $2.5 million. Numbers showing how many businesses are still active were unavailable, in part because UNO’s records were destroyed by flooding from Hurricane Katrina.

But officials say for every dollar spent on vocational rehabilitation, the state gets back $9 in the form of increased wages and reduced public assistance. And they say the ExcEL program won a national award from the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Many participants end up starting home-based businesses, says Tiffany Dickerson of Louisiana Rehabilitation Services, which is part of the state’s Department of Social Services. This can be particularly helpful for people with a severe disability, as it eliminates the need to worry about transportation. The goal is for graduates to eventually become completely self-sufficient.

“In the business world, the people are really happy to see somebody that has a disability working, but they don’t generally want to be the one that employs them,” says Gay Young, who runs the ExcEL program at UNO and is visually impaired. “They’re a risk. … We serve a very specific population, but it’s a population that’s traditionally underemployed.” For many, self-employment becomes the best choice, she says.

At the same time, ExcEL is an investment for the state. Clients can be eligible for grants to get their businesses started, so organizers want to be sure the participants have a chance to succeed. LRS counselors do the initial screening, making sure each participant has the necessary skills and motivation for self-employment, and then make the referrals to UNO.

Some of those referrals will drop out of the program once they realize what running a business entails. Others are turned away, perhaps because their business idea was unfocused or inappropriate for where they live. Those that make the cut are put through an intensive two-week workshop.

“It was a hard program,” LeBlanc says. “It was like going back to school.”

Researching and writing a detailed business plan is at the heart of the program; LeBlanc says his ended up being about 50 pages. Speakers from UNO’s College of Business Administration and the local business community drill participants on insurance, tax, accounting and legal issues. There’s also an ongoing follow-up program to help graduates work through problems they might come across later.

Ken Zangla, director of UNO’s Training, Resource and Assistive Technology Center, says his department’s knowledge of vocational rehabilitation, combined with the expertise of the College of Business, makes the program unique.

“Our society is more about letting me tell you all the reasons why you can’t,” Young says. “One of the things I think we do best is to opt people in, instead of opt them out.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION--To learn more about Exceptional Entrepreneurs of Louisiana, contact Cassandra Bookman at 219-2408 or cbookman@dss.state.la.us.