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COVER STORY:
No Limits!, by Elaine Pofeldt, page 40
The U.S. Census Bureau counts nearly 50 million disabled Americans, all of whom are in the market for products and services that help them enjoy life more fully. Collectively, they spend $796 billion a year on everything from rent to vacations, according to market research. As the success of John Box—whose company sells eye-catching high-performance wheelchairs designed for everything from downhill racing to hockey—indicates, making it possible for people with disabilities to pursue their passions is good business. FSB's Elaine Pofedlt looks at several entrepreneurs who are taking advantage of this huge, underserved market. And in a related story, Justin Martin reports on how the Americans with Disabilities Act has broken down barriers for disabled Americans—but has also caused a great deal of harm to many small businesses because of vague requirements and onerous enforcement.

Notes From the Underground Economy, by Josh McHugh, page 19
Made up of day laborers, illegal immigrants, even a business owner's relatives, a "stealth workforce" is approaching the $1-trillion-a-year mark in the United States. Unburdened by pesky taxes and government rules, this underground economy is growing faster than the one populated by legitimate business owners and workers. But on a warped playing field, many entrepreneurs are finding it harder and harder to compete, reports Josh McHugh. Policy analysts are starting to pay attention to the problem, and the result could be an onslaught of regulatory activity—focused squarely on the small business sector—that is likely to make life harder for all business owners.

Betting on a Cure, by Jeanne Lee, page 79
WellSpring BioCapital Partners offers a way to invest in companies that are working on cures for five so-far incurable afflictions: Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, diabetes, prostate cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. If a cure is found, those who invested in a portfolio for one of these illnesses will share in the financial return. Meanwhile, they are able to participate in causes that matter to them. "The idea of organizing a fund portfolio around a disease rather than around technologies, as in a typical health-care or biotech mutual fund, is to make the components more understandable and appealing to the average investor, who may have neither the time nor the inclination to wade through scientific jargon," says FSB writer Jeanne Lee.

Numbers Game, by Maggie Overfelt, page 81
Until recently, when it came time to make player acquisitions and trades, baseball executives had to sift through hundreds of pages of handwritten scouting reports and voicemail messages to piece together player profiles. In 1998, IBM came up with software that could consolidate that information, but now IBM is getting competition from E Solutions, an upstart 30-person IT firm with a program called ScoutAdvisor—web-based software that slices and dices player information any way a team wants it. Maggie Overfelt looks at how E Solutions has quietly captured business from about a third of the major league clubs—and how it plans to roll out versions of the software for football and basketball teams.

The E-Recycler, by Christine Chen, page 93
Stampp Corbin is the founder of RetroBox, a Columbus-based firm that helps companies get rid of IT assets such as PCs, printers, and servers. The equipment can be both a security risk (because of proprietary information still on the hard drives) and an environmental hazard (because of the toxic materials hidden in each box). RetroBox solves both problems by wiping the machines clean of all data, refurbishing and selling any that are still useful, and making sure the rest are disposed of safely. The company had revenues of $14 million in 2004, with an average annual growth of more than 100% since it was founded in 1997—and the demand for its services is still increasing.

Is This The Future of Cardiac Care?, by Patricia Gray, page 97
Doctors have long experimented with artificial hearts, but early attempts often had complications. During the past four years, though—and with little fanfare—surgeons have implanted the self-contained AbioCor into 14 dying men, who have lived an average of six months. Though there have been setbacks, Abiomed, which makes the AbioCor, has asked the FDA for permission to implant the device into patients who do not qualify for human-heart transplants and have no other viable options. Patricia Gray reports on the potential of what could someday be a major medical technology.

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