About US

Welcome to L C Industries, a nonprofit organization and the perfect place to pursue a career. Our purpose and continuing goal is to provide people who are legally blind with a safe place of employment, opportunities to learn job skills and the training to develop a job into a rewarding career. You have taken the first step down a career path and we invite you to explore our company and the opportunities we offer to legally blind individuals.

Corporate History

In 1936, a local civic club created a job training facility to serve people who are legally blind in the Durham, NC area. The members of that local civic club provided the financial assistance to establish what is now known as LC Industries. This small facility provided an opportunity for the visually impaired population, a demographic that has a historical unemployment rate of 70%, with an opportunity to learn job skills and secure a future for themselves and their families. Today, LC Industries has grown into a modern, not-for-profit corporation, operating under the AbilityOne Program, and is now the largest employer of people who are blind in the nation.

Manufacturing has always been the core element of the LC Industries identity. The products LC Industries manufactures has evolved over the years from mattresses to chemical light sticks, and now include cooperative efforts with well know commercial companies including Avery-Dennison, 3M Corporation, Fellowes, Cyalume and Reckitt Benckiser. LC Industries' manufacturing division is flourishing and today produces nearly 2000 different products of which over 400 are on the Government Procurement List.

In 1995 LC Industries saw an opportunity to create additional blind jobs through military supply. Today LC Industries operates 31 base supply locations throughout the United States providing customers purchasing options of more than 1,000,000 items, allowing for a true one stop shopping experience that includes office supplies, technology, furniture, cleaning supplies and tactical gear.

In support of the thriving manufacturing and retail divisions LC Industries opened its Distribution Services in 2003, and now supports customers from coast to coast with distribution centers in North Carolina and Nevada. We hold steadfast to our core beginnings and proudly offer brands recognized by the federal customers such as Ability One (formerly JWOD), and Skilcraft both of which are superior quality products proudly produced by individuals who are blind or severely handicapped.

At LC Industries, we are proud of our heritage and our roots in Durham, NC. Our mission is the same today as it was in 1936. In 2010, LC Industries made a $12 million gift toward the creation of a new state-of-the-art Duke Eye Center, in Durham, NC. "This state-of-the-art facility will provide the highest quality of eye care to our patients as well as facilitating the translation of discoveries being made on the research side to breakthrough innovations in clinical care for people with various eye diseases and conditions," Victor J. Dzau, CEO of Duke University Health System, said in the release. "I can't think of a better partnership for this vitally important work than a company that has set the standard in this country for its employment of people who are visually impaired, and one of the nation's premier eye centers. This gift is very much appreciated." "This gift takes our company's commitment to people with visual impairments to a new level," said Bill Hudson, President of LC Industries and a member of the Duke Eye Center Advisory Board. "We want to play a meaningful role in the process that leads to cures for the common causes of blindness."

At buylci.com we pride ourselves in continuing the mission of LC Industries, to provide opportunities for the visually impaired in the communities we serve.