Green Bay—History was made as a new accessibility icon was revealed Nov. 17 in the joint parking lot of Camera Corner Connecting Point and Associated Bank in downtown Green Bay.
CCCP and Associated Bank are the first businesses in the state of Wisconsin to use this new icon, which has only been adopted in two other states as of Nov. 2016.
The new icon shows a person leaning forward out of a wheelchair, navigating themselves in the world.
Representative of the No Limits team of Aspiro, CP and Curative Connections Nicole Hoffman explained what this new icon means to the community.
“This is so much more than an icon,” Hoffman said. “It’s about the perception of disability in a public space. And it’s about a cultural change in the way disability is understood.”
Rick Chernick, CEO of CCCP, is a member of the committee for Aspiro. He explained how the new icon came to be through a resource development meeting Hoffman was also at.
At this meeting, Hoffman had explained the new icon. CCCP was renovating a new building at the time, and Chernick realized it was the perfect opportunity to introduce the icon in the new parking lot, as well as the current retail store lot. After the meeting, Chernick contacted Philip Flynn, president and CEO of Associated Bank.
“Without any hesitation at all (Flynn) said ‘it’s wonderful, let’s do it,” Chernick said. “We’re so excited that this can be done.”
Flynn spoke at the event as well, and said Associated Bank is very serious about diversity and inclusion in his company.
“Anything we can do to promote the folks who are disabled to move to a more modern and forward-looking logo is something we’re delighted to do,” Flynn said.
Chernick also expressed how he hopes the rest of the state, especially Green Bay and Brown County, will follow CCCP and Associated Bank’s lead with adopting the new icon. Northeast Asphalt has the new icon available to any businesses that would like to integrate this into their business.
To congratulate the businesses, Hoffman gave Chernick and Flynn each a statue of the new icon as the leaders in the new initiative.
