Nic’s Optical
620 Market Street
Harlan, Iowa 51537
712-755-2020
http://www.drjays2020.com
Nic Christensen is a busy guy. He divides his time between running his optical lens-cutting lab in Harlan, Iowa, and serving as assistant coach to the Harlan boys’ basketball team. His business, Nic’s Optical, is a “business-within-a-business,” an emerging model for self-employment enterprises that can work well for people with disabilities. It is also a family affair.
Nic’s father is a Doctor of Optometry who owns Dr. Jay’s Family Eyecare in Harlan, and Nic’s business was designed to complement his practice. Dr. Jay Christensen sees patients, conducts eye exams, and prescribes lenses. Nic can then use his specialized machinery to grind and smooth the lenses, according to prescription, and insert them into the frames the customers have selected. With Nic’s services, Dr. Jay can offer a much quicker turn-around-time for prescription glasses than would otherwise be available in town. In many cases, glasses can be ready the same day because Nic is on site and ready to make them.
Nic was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two. Now in his early thirties, Nic is a small business owner and operator, and for more than a decade, he has been the right hand man to Harlan basketball coach, Mitch Osborn. Coach Osborn’s boys’ basketball team has made more state tournament appearances than any other in Iowa. Coach Osborn says Nic plays an important role as assistant coach. “When he's not here, you notice it,'' he says. "It's terrible. The practices are not the same. It's just not as smooth'' without Nic around.
Nic’s Optical got its start in 2009 with a loan from IowaAble Foundation and a grant from Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Nic also secured a modest bank loan. It took a full year for Nic’s business to launch and become profitable. During the process, he received assistance from Griffin-Hammis & Associates and Iowa Work Incentive Planning and Assistance Benefits Planners with tracking earnings and making use of Social Security work incentives. Nic used a Social Security Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) to save money and was able to pay back his bank loan in 2012.
Nic and his family have plans to renovate the building next to Nic’s Optical, where he will be able to enjoy his own apartment – and a very short commute.