If you can?t beat ?em, join ?em.
Combining two elements of deaf and hard-of-hearing communication empowerment ? sign-language interpreting and captioning services ? in one operation, Visual Language Interpreting Inc. will merge with captioning leader Caption First Inc. in early 2007.
“Historically, the market for communication access services for the deaf and hard of hearing has been very segmented between interpreting companies and captioning companies,” VLI President and co-owner Tara Arthur said.
“While many interpreting companies offer captioning services as an ancillary line, and vice versa … this merger represents a convergence of the leaders in these two market segments.”
VLI, a 20-employee, $6 million-in-sales, D.C.-based company, which provides individualized, at-office ? or other public event ? sign language interpreting services to employees at Social Security Administration?s Baltimore location, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense and other agencies, projects $10 million in sales once the merger with nine-employee, $2.4 million-in-sales Caption First gels.
Each company also maintains a stable of independent contractors.
“They?re one of the most prominent captioning companies in the country,” VLI?s Director of Business Development Brian Somers said of Chicago-based Caption First.
“They?ve been providing captioning services for the National Court Reporters Association convention, which is the professional body that oversees captioning services.”
With a branch office in Denver, Caption First offers conference and remote (via the Internet) individualized captioning services to U.S. and international clients, including employees at Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Department of Education and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
“Caption First and VLI are a natural fit for one another because both organizations were built upon the premise of providing only the highest quality services to our customers,” said Caption First President Pat Graves.
“Caption First and VLI both insist that our teams earn and maintain national certification.”
A name has not yet been selected for the combined operation, but the merged company?s headquarters will be in Washington.
There are an estimated 28 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the U.S., comprising a communication-access market of upward of $100 million, according to Caption First co-owner Phil Hysong.
