Power Chair Recyclers in the news: “Entrepreneur Making Most of Wheelchairs”

This article by Ken Shane of the Jamestown Press appeared on their site 26 June 2014. The Jamestown Press is a valued partner of Power Chair Recyclers, helping us advance our sustainability mission by donating packing materials.

Jamestown resident John Perrotti has a history of making a difference. While attending North Kingstown High School, he was captain of the football team. At Ithaca College, he was a non-governmental official at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico.

Now Perrotti has his own business, Power Chair Recyclers of New England, and he’s determined to make a difference there, too.

After he graduated from Ithaca in 2012 with a degree in business management, Perrotti was installing kitchens and wood floors with his uncle. When he came across an abandoned electric wheelchair, his first inclination was to try and sell it. When that didn’t work out, he did the next best thing: He took it apart.

Perrotti then realized there was a need for the used parts.

“We learned that people need the parts just as much as they need the whole chairs,” said Perrotti, who also works with scooters, medical beds and patient lifts. “We got a couple of more and started reaching out to the communities. A lot of people need this stuff, and they weren’t getting access to it.”

What began as a side job for Perrotti eventually turned into a company geared toward helping both people and the environment.

He has always had a keen interest in the ecosystem, and that appeal became a key component in his new business strategy. Not only would his company provide people with much-needed equipment, he would recycle whatever was left from the wheelchairs and scooters.

Read the original article on the Jamestown Press website here.