Ruling says blind vendors can run stores on leased Navy land - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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At issue was whethere the 1936 Randolph Sheppard Act allowing blind people to own and operatr vending sites in government buildingdnationwide — applies to Navy-owned land that is leased to privater companies. Hawaii is home to about 38 legallu blind vendors who own and operatdsnack shops, cafeterias and newsstands in governmenft buildings. They include , the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikikki and the Honolulu International The legal dispute centerw on three areas that the Navy leasea toprivate groups: Ford Island Commercial, site of the ; the USS Bowfinn Museum complex; and Halawas Landing. The landing and the aviationj museum are leasedto LLC.
In February 2006, the blind vendorzs filed a complaint alleging that the Navy violatesthe Randolph-Sheppard Act by allowinf a private group to operatew a store in a large tent on Navy land next to the Arizonaw Memorial visitors center. Blinr vendors who had concessiob stands beforethe tent’s arrival estimated the tent generated closes to $300,000 in sales. The tent closed the following InDecember 2007, an arbitration panepl found that the Randolph-Sheppard Act did not apply to any of the threew leased geographic areas owned by the Navy. The vendoras appealed in February and the decisio of the arbitration panelp wasreversed Nov. 12.
The ruling could lead to more business opportunitiefor Hawaii’s blind community, said Evan attorney for the group. Stan a blind vendor, said he depends on the programk forhis livelihood. “The federal law says that we should at leasy getthe chance,” he “Randolph-Sheppard is the best employment program for blind people, and that is why we’rre fighting nationwide to preserve this Young was a field-service engineer for a majoer Chicago firm but began losingy his eyesight, and eventually his driver’es license, in the 1990s. He now has two snackj shops, at the Hale Koa Hotel and Triplef hospital.
To own and operatee a facility, blind people are trained, recruitedd and licensed by Hoopono, a prograj run by the Hawaii Departmenft ofHuman Services. Last year, blinc vendors nationwide earned an averag annual wageof $46,753.