OARacle Newsletter

TroveMarket.com is the first online marketplace in the country exclusively for entrepreneurs with disabilities. It went live at Thanksgiving with items ranging from greeting cards and personalized tumblers to jewelry and potholders, all made by sellers with disabilities.

When Belle Meador, a young autistic woman created a microbusiness selling handmade greeting cards, she inspired her father, Dave Meador, to launch a marketplace where other entrepreneurs like her could sell their goods and crafts. After Belle graduated from high school, she worked for Strategic Staffing Solutions in Detroit before taking a job at English Gardens in Royal Oak, where she’s worked two days a week for about six years, Dave said in an article on Disability Scoop, “It gave me a firsthand look at just how hard it is for people with disabilities and autism to find work,” he explained.

Trove’s mission is two-fold: to empower entrepreneurs with disabilities and to reduce social isolation—a key determinant of health outcomes—by connecting them to a community of peers, customers, and advocates, according to a press release. The nonprofit partners with disability service agencies, workforce organizations, and community-based nonprofits to provide training, coaching, technical assistance, and marketing exposure to help sellers grow their businesses.

Incorporated as a 501(c)3 charity, Trove’s sellers are limited to annual earnings of 250% of the federal poverty level or $39,125, according to Disability Scoop. The online interface has features built in so that people with cognitive, physical, or sensory disabilities can use the platform.

Backed by nearly $2 million in seed capital, including $350,000 of Meador family money, Trove charges its sellers a 3% commission fee to sell products on the marketplace. That’s a minimal fee compared to online marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, and Facebook, where commissions can go as high as 30%. In the Disability Scoop article, Dave Meador, a former vice chairman of DTE Energy who has spent years tackling workforce challenges in Detroit, Michigan, noted that Trove kept the fee structure minimal “because of the community we’re trying to help.”

“This was a personal mission for me to take my knowledge and background and apply it in a way where I feel very personally motivated to support people like my sister,” said Jayme Powell, the new CEO of Trove Market, in the Disability Scoop article. Her sister, Brittany Danzig, has Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disability on the autism spectrum that affects her ability to communicate with others. Danzig sells custom plastic holders for business and playing cards on Trove.

One of Powell’s biggest goals is to find sellers. To that end, she is reaching out to existing programs for adults with disabilities and to high schools that include craftmaking in their curricula. “There’s no reason why every high school special education department in Michigan couldn’t have a storefront on Trove,” said Dave Meador.

Sherri Alms is the freelance editor of The OARacle, a role she took on in 2007. She has been a freelance writer and editor for more than 20 years.