William White loved working at the Widener Memorial School for disabled youth. As an employee in their Brace Shop, he took care of students' safety and mobility needs, repairing and adapting their wheelchairs, braces, and other equipment during school hours. Always inventive, with a knack for mechanics, Bill kept helping out at Widener even after his retirement in 1990. During this time, he invented a special portable, sizable harness for use in the school's buses.

His friend and neighbor, Martha Williams, got straight to the point. "Bill," she said, "You are wasting your talent." Bill's wife, Virginia agreed, and together the three microentrepreneurs officially began their business—White's PRD & Co.—in 1998. After initially getting "ripped off" and misled by some supposed business development services, Williams says now that, "PDP got us on the right track."

White's Personal Restraint Device was patented in 2000, and with the guidance of PDP's business mentors, White and Williams have set up successful interviews with both the School District of Philadelphia and Easter Seals Society, and have already sold $6,000 worth of goods.