Edmonds firm begins production on mobility device

Published 3:31 pm Monday, November 22, 2010

Edmonds-based Forward Mobility is starting production on its latest mobility device after winning a national entrepreneurship competition last week.

The freedom leg, a prosthetic-style device that allows someone with a leg injury to walk while keeping their arms free, should be on the market soon, said Forward Mobility President Joel Smith.

Smith and his wife, Patty Steele-Smith, started Forward Mobility a year ago. The three-person company won $50,000 in development grants last week from Alibaba.com, an online business-to-business sales platform.

That means Forward Mobility is moving to production with the freedom leg, its third product released this year.

“I’m hoping we’ll receive the first products, with a little luck, within the next 60 days,” Smith said.

Publicity surrounding the competition brought a storm of interest in Smith’s mobility inventions. In the last month, Forward Mobility was deluged with requests from companies in 20 countries about distributing the freedom leg after production.

“It’s been very motivating for us, to keep doing what we’re doing,” Smith said.

The company’s products, which include a collapsible wheelchair and a seated scooter, stem from questioning the logic of mainstream mobility aides such as crutches and walkers, which replace the use of legs with upper body strength. Smith anticipates the company’s next products will continue to modify traditional devices.

Forward Mobility’s reputation for innovation in the medical device industry came fast, but Smith said it followed a long process of trial and error.

The freedom leg is the result of several earlier prototypes, which Smith started working on when his wife suffered a knee injury earlier this year.

“You have to have unbelievable persistence,” he said. “What you have to understand is, whether it’s a product or a service, the first time you do it, it’s not going to be good enough. You have to do it over and over.”

Smith said he tries to design devices with developing countries in mind.

Forward Mobility is partnered with Kids First Enterprise, a nonprofit manufacturing company in Vietnam. The factory is located in a rural area of Vietnam and employs some disabled workers. Smith hopes to award will help him expand the factory.

“The bottom line for us is, the world has told us they’re ready to move beyond crutches,” he said.

Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.