The first mayor of accessibility

Not all entrepreneurs are brought to tears talking about their project. Dan MacNeil can’t help becoming emotional when he thinks of how his life-long fight for people with disabilities is about to pay off. MacNeil, who was born with a neurological disability that impairs his speech and movement, is about to become mayor of a virtual town: Ourtownearth.com. The website is dedicated to creating a community and equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

The Sydney Mines, N.S., native has always been entrepreneurial. At 13 MacNeil got his first job, working in a fish plant at night, and started a landscaping business. After high school he served in the Armed Forces in North Sydney before moving to Alberta in 1990, where he worked as a correctional officer for the Alberta Justice Department. “I never put in 40 hours a week,” he says in his slow and steady speech. “It’s always 80 or more. I’m not highly educated, but I’ve gotten anything I’ve ever wanted by putting in extra time.”

In 2000 MacNeil moved back to North Sydney with his wife, Dana, to pursue his goal of strengthening the disability community. After seeing the artwork of a friend who is paralyzed from the neck down, he started wondering how many other people with disabilities have talents that go largely unnoticed.

With the help of business partners Bill Murphy and Rollie Clarke, he organized a road trip around Nova Scotia to discover other craftspeople with disabilities. When his goal of showcasing their work on Christmas Island in Cape Breton was derailed, the team went back to the drawing board and came up with the idea for a virtual town. “If I couldn’t be Santa Claus, I may as well be the mayor,” he says, smiling.

With the help of ThreeTon New Media and Moxi Creative, the team drafted the 3-D website. Virtual neighbourhoods from around the world will be set up with real landmarks, chat forums, and town-hall meetings. If someone with a disability needs information about wheelchair-friendly venues or employment, or just wants to meet others in his or her community, resources will be in one place.

So far 700 members, people both without and with disabilities, have signed up. The site is set to launch this summer. “Dan is the most selfless person I think I have ever met,” says Holly Bond, the startup entrepreneur behind Bulldog Interactive Fitness who jumped on board to do marketing and PR. “He works tirelessly but he won’t stop. He believes he was put on the Earth to make the world accessible for everyone.”