Since 1974, North Central Sight Services, Inc. has provided me with very rewarding employment. From 1974 to 1986, I met literally thousands of people who had lost, or were losing their sight. Because of our Agency’s services, these individuals were able to live independently, learn new skills of daily living as a person who is blind and achieve their individualized goals and objectives. I am honored to have played a part in these successes.

Since April 1986, as Director I have been given an even greater responsibility to guide and direct our Associates to meet the ever changing, growing needs of those we serve. Whether it be in services to people who have lost their sight, prevention of blindness, or creating new and varied work opportunities for our Industry Associates. Each task has been different, challenging and has required the support of my outstanding Team to accomplish the end results.

Over the past twenty years, I have seen tremendous changes within the blindness service system. For those of us having federal contracts, the entire system of procurement has been streamlined and I am positive there are additional changes to come. Through all this, we have grown and been successful. We now have a total of fifty-nine Associates, twenty-five staff and thirty-four Associates who work full or part-time in our Industry.

We realized sales of $6.1 million in 2005, a 28% increase over 2004 and we grew employment by 21%.  Our 2006 budget is $7,970,000.  This growth translates to more jobs and hours worked.  We have made considerable headway in stabilizing our financial position and the future is bright.

With the acquisition of our new facility located at 2121 Reach Road later this year, we will experience some challenges, but the opportunities will definitely be greater than the occasional bumps in the road.  I'm confident that the transition to our new facility will go smoothly, especially knowing that our Associates are primed for success.

As we move forward, we must always remember our beginnings, be proactive, willing to change and constantly position ourselves to provide outstanding service to all of our customers including those individuals and groups who purchase products from us and those who are blind. Let us never forget the needs of people who are blind who seek employment. And let's stay focused and up-to-date on the needs of the general public regarding eye care education and prevention of sight loss. I am confident that with the ongoing support of our Board of Directors, enthusiastic Associates and support from the general public, we will accomplish these goals and continue to be a quality service provider to the residents of Lycoming, Clinton, Sullivan, Bradford , Centre, Susquehanna, Potter, and Tioga counties.

March 9th, 2006

It is hard to believe that more than six months has past since our move on January 5, 2007 to Reach Road . Our building is beautiful and has already proven to be an affective avenue to promote our services.

I am very excited about our new Access Technology center. As of July 17, 2007 , we have started providing instruction on the JAWS and Window-Eyes screen readers and Zoom Text for individuals with some residual vision.  Customers will have the opportunity to use this software and ascertain which adaptive program works for them.

Our Visual Aids Store opened in June and has been a real asset for our customers.  Individuals new to vision loss as well as people who have been blind for their entire life can benefit from the store.  We have created a place where everyone can try out an item before committing to the purchase.  Our inventory includes Braille/large print cards to closed circuit TV systems for reading and everything in between.  We are confident that this community resource will grow in use and popularity over the next year.

Since we made our move from Memorial Avenue to the Reach Road Industrial Park , our Industry has been very busy. The new flash drive project is going great guns with more than 11,000 units assembled and sold since January of 2007. This is a great project with lots of “blind labor”, technical attributes and appeal to our younger, computer driven Associates. This growth would not have been possible without the outstanding marketing efforts of our team. They have worked tirelessly marketing the flash drives and other products to our BSC customers. If all goes per plan, we expect to have the flash drives on the Federal Procurement List by the end of September 2007. This will open additional doors and markets for these very popular products.

Finally, on July 11, 2007 , we sold the 901 Memorial Avenue facility to Albright Care of Lewisburg. It was truly the end of an era for North Central Sight Services, Inc. The future is bright and I’m very excited by the new possibilities made possible by having a newly renovated, larger home for service provision. 

July 24, 2007   

Robert B. Garrett, President/C.E.O.