East Texas Business

By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor

The dark green minivan looks like any other vehicle of its type across the country. But look inside the van in Bill Niederhofer's Tyler shop and you will not see the typical multiple rows of seats and too many cup holders to count.

Instead, a low, flat floor will greet you. Driver and front passenger seats may be removed to accommodate wheelchairs or scooters.

Push a button, and a ramp will unfold to greet you.

Handicapped people need these vans to help them with their independence and mobility, said Niederhofer, owner of Lone Star Handicap Vans on Texas Highway 64 West. A converted minivan is far less expensive and less obvious than a full-size handicap van that lifts people in wheelchairs up to a high cab level.

Niederhofer and his wife, Norma, began the company late last year, after seeing a need for a more affordable vehicle.

Niederhofer consulted with Perry Smith, a counselor with the Small Business Development Center at Tyler Junior College, to formulate a business plan.

Now, the shop is working on only a few vans, and it employs only a few people as it perfects the process, but Niederhofer expects growth. The need for such a vehicle is that great, he said.

"We anticipate to start out here (converting) three or four vans a month," he said. "As we build and get our market out on the Internet, we're hoping to increase that within a year to somewhere around 15-20 (a month). Our ultimate goal is to end up somewhere around 40 vans a month."

With that production, the company would probably employ 40-50 people, he said.

"The business is not just about us or trying to make a dollar; I've been self-employed for quite a few years," Niederhofer said. "We wanted to make it more to it than just the almighty dollar business. We're going to put this in God's hands."

Niederhofer said most of the vehicle sales will probably be over the Internet. However, the shop is located near Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, which makes it easy for a person to fly in and travel a short distance down Texas 64 to see a vehicle.

The starting price of the most basic conversion at Niederhofer’s shop is about $19,000, versus tens of thousands of dollars for a new full-size van conversion, he said. Prices are lower for the conversions because the vans are used.

Another good feature is the vehicle does not visually scream “handicapped person.” It looks like any other minivan. When a person pulls into a handicap space, he pushes a button and the ramp extends for a simple exit — no hydraulic lift is needed to lower the person and his mobility device to ground level.

Niederhofer visits the Tyler Auto Auction to find suitable vehicles to convert — vans that are year model 2001 or newer and with no more than 70,000 miles. He chose to start his company using the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan vehicles because they have a reputation of a long life with very few problems.

The unibody vehicles are also strong enough to stand up to the conversion.

To make the vans accessible with a personal mobility device, Niederhofer cuts out a large section of the vehicle’s floor and installs a new, lower floor. The new floor is very rigid and becomes part of the vehicle’s unibody makeup.

The driver’s seat can be removed and a person in a wheelchair or handicap scooter can literally position the chair into place behind the steering wheel, lock it down, start the van and drive.

“It gives them the mobility and the ability to work or have more of a normal life,” he said.

Niederhofer said he has tried to implement the conversion on other makes of vans. The process works on some models, and some others will not hold up to the conversion.

Consequently, all of the parts Niederhofer’s shop fabricates are geared for Chrysler vans. He is, however, planning to add the Chevrolet Uplander, to his conversion offerings.

Niederhofer, a former Houston firefighter, more than a decade ago moved to Costa Rica, where he met Norma. He lived there 7 1/2 years, working in the souvenir, tour and real estate business and raising cattle.

While in Costa Rica, he met a man who was in the handicap van conversion business, and he and Norma considered opening a branch of that business in Texas when they moved back to the United States in 2004.

But instead they waited, and Niederhofer said he continued to see the need for the conversions to aid the handicapped. The Niederhofers decided to start their own conversion business.

“We started looking, trying to acquire used (vans), because we’d buy one and before we’d even get it back here to our location we’d have a list of people wanting good, used handicap vans,” he said.

Owners of handicap vans put a high value on the vehicles because they are such an important part of their lives. People whose handicaps make it impossible for them to drive a conventional car are able to regain their mobility with handicap vehicles.

And Niederhofer said despite reports of the rate of vehicle repossessions in the nation increasing, people who own handicap vehicles tend not to default on them.

“On these vehicles the repossession rate is less a half of 1 percent, because they’re so in demand,” he said. “People will give up their televisions, maybe move to a smaller apartment or do whatever they need to do to keep their mobility.”

Niederhofer said he also wants to use the business as a means to give back to people who put themselves in harm’s way. He said he has great respect for the U.S. military and, in accordance with the Lone Star Handicap Vans business plan, he will donate every 21st van produced to a disabled veteran. The initial 21st van the company produces will be donated to their church, Green Acres Baptist Church.

Norma Niederhofer said she sees the business as a way to give back to the community.

“We are very grateful for the community, and I am grateful for the country,” she said. “I am not from here and I’m just very happy, and it’s a way to be grateful for what you have, the opportunities that you have here.”

RAMPING UP: The handicap ramp that unfolds on its own power out of this Lone Star Handicap Vans minivan conversion allows people in wheelchairs or scooters to wheel or drive themselves onto the vehicle.
((Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero))