Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
The 16-year-old boy had just gotten his permit and wanted to drive the family van but he had a problem.
He was a dwarf and he rode in a wheelchair.
Not a problem for Dave Jennings and his family.
It took them about eight weeks, but when they were done the boy could ride a lift into the van, roll to where the driver’s seat normally would be, and grab the customized steering wheel full of buttons to control the throttle, brakes and transmission. All the controls on the dashboard had been extended so he could reach them and he was elevated at a proper height to be able to drive safely.
Just another typical conversion job for Jennings, a 17-year resident of Sweet Home, and his family, who run MPJ Mobility on Marcola Road at the northeast edge of Springfield. Their specialty is putting disabled people behind the wheel.
Jennings said he’s been doing it for more than 20 years, first with a previous company he founded in Eugene, then with MPJ, which he started six years ago.
His son, Jason Jennings, is the sales manager for MPJ and his son-in-law, Chris Royer also works for the firm.
MPJ, which employs seven people, turns out about 60 vans a year fully modified for disabled drivers. The company does “thousands” of jobs a year, Jason Jennings said, for customers from southern Washington to northern California.
Their location in Springfield puts them within a convenient distance of Sacred Heart Regional Medical Center and its extensive rehabilitation facility, which means there’s plenty of demand for the services MPJ provides. They also get a lot of work out of the veterans hospital in Roseburg.
“We’re seeing a huge need in Eugene,” Jennings said. “There tends to be more of a population of people who need toys.”
He said that with millions of baby boomers nearing retirement, there’s an increasing market for vehicles modified to allow those who have difficulty walking to drive.
“They are not wanting to call it quits,” Jennings said. “We provide a way to keep them on the road, to keep them driving.”
Dave Jennings said he got into converting vehicles for the disabled after working in metal fabrication.
“At the place I was working, someone came in and asked if I could install some hand controls for them,” he said. “I did.”
Then he decided to pursue conversions.
“When we first started, we were converting vehicles for paraplegics and quadriplegics. Now people are just getting a ride for Mom and Dad.”
MPJ sells new conversions in a small lot outside the shop, just down the street from the Kingsford charcoal plant. Fully converted vehicles generally range from $25,000 for a used model to $75,000 for one of the higher lines, Jason Jennings said. He said a conversion usually costs between $10,000 and $25,000, depending on how extensive it is.
Smaller jobs might simply be installing a lift so a person on a scooter can get into their vehicle.
“The spectrum’s pretty wide,” Jennings said. “Specialized conversions can get pretty spendy.”
Some vehicles come from manufacturers such as Braun Abilities in Indiana, which does base modifications to standard vans – lowered floors, kneeling suspensions that allow a vehicle to be lowered to make it easier to enter for a wheelchair, increased headroom, low-angle ramps, automatic powered sliding doors and other such features.
MPJ, which is a dealer for Braun, does more “specialized interior stuff,” Jennings said.
The company put hand controls in a Corvette for one customer and a Jaguar for another. It has done work for the founder of Jerry’s Building Centers and the late Les Schwab, who had a bad right leg, the Jenningses said.
“We delivered the van to (Schwab’s) office and the next day they had wheels on it,” Dave Jennings said.
The company also does work on vehicles for the Sweet Home Senior Center, Sunshine Industries and Linn County Transit.
“If it has wheels we can usually do something,” Jason Jennings said.
Most of the company’s business, he said, comes by word of mouth and through the Internet. Much of it is from returning customers.
“We have people who trade in every two year,” Dave Jennings said. “They want the latest and greatest thing.”
Their field is “a pretty unique niche,” with the closest competition in Portland, but, Jason Jennings said, “we protect our market aggressively.”
He said that the company is careful about keeping its certifications current “to protect our business and our customers.”
Liability is high, and manufacturers are picky about whom they choose to sell their products, he said.
A lot of their business involves just listening to customers and creative thinking.
“Most people come in here and they have no idea what they want,” Jennings said. “Basically, someone will come in and have an issue. They can’t walk any more. A lot of times we can provide options for them. We try to steer people down the right path, to what will work best for them.”
MPJ also fills prescriptions, in which customers have been ordered by doctors to get specific equipment.
“Dad and Mom have a stroke. What do we do? We fill a need,” Dave Jennings said. “It could be as simple as a gas pedal extension for a short lady.”
Disabilities, he said, happen “to all kinds of people.”
“We hear all sorts of war stories,” Jennings said. “Someone is walking across the grass. Suddenly they end up in a wheelchair.”
One of their most memorable customers was a woman from Bend who had been born without arms.
“I said, ‘Show me what you can do,'” Jennings said. “She reached up onto her shoulder with her foot, grabbed her keys with her toes, and opened the car door. Then she set the keys back on her shoulder.”
They built her a vehicle.
The Jennings and Royer said their business sometimes brings them face to face with uncomfortable things as well, like the customer they met who had no legs. Someone had set her on fire as a 2-year-old.
“That keeps you going,” Royer said.
But generally, there’s a lot of satisfaction in what his company does, Dave Jennings said.
“It’s rewarding,” he said, “actually doing something for people.”