In spite of hard economic times, some area companies are moving forward with expanding their businesses.

Latonya and Quentin T. Howell recently expanded their business, Howell’s Medical Equipment & Supply, by moving it to a new location on Meriweather Road in north Baldwin County.

Quentin T. Howell told The Union-Recorder that opening their new location puts them in a better position to serve their customers.

“We carry a lot of things that cannot otherwise be found locally,” he said. “We are a store that carries supplies from several different major distributors and that gives the citizens of Milledgeville the opportunity to not have to drive to other communities like Macon or Atlanta to get the things they need.”

And the Howells aren’t just providing customers with a new location for getting what they need, they’re also getting customers more of what they need, too.

Latonya Howell said that in the beginning the business worked almost exclusively with insurance companies and Health Maintenance Organizations to provide customers with the medical products they need, but now they are expanding the business to supply customers who may not have insurance with the same products at affordable out-of-pocket prices.

Latonya Howell said that because their customers count on them for the customer service they provide and need many of the medical products they carry, after some careful research the decision to expand their business was not a hard one to make.

“Most people look at the economy and are afraid, but if you have a good product and provide excellent service, I don’t think the bad economy is that much of a setback,” she said.

And moving into the new storefront location opens the opportunity to provide their customers with something else they need: The knowledge with which to live a healthier lifestyle.

The Howells said they are planning a health fair to introduce their customers to a range health care professionals that can tell them about ways of better protecting their health.

“A lot of people have conditions like diabetes but don’t know how to properly care for themselves,” Latonya Howell said. “We’re in the process of sponsoring a health fair so that we can bring in those health care professionals that can show them the proper way to care for themselves.”

By expanding their business, the Howells are looking for ways that they can better service their customers, whether it is through a greater variety of products or the knowledge to put those products to use correctly. But either way, they are taking their successful business to the next level.

“With Georgia being one of the states with an unemployment rate almost in the double digits, to be in the process of growing and expanding means that we must be doing something right,” Quentin T. Howell said.

Howell’s Medical Equipment & Supplies carries a range of medical supplies from diabetic shoes and socks, motorized wheel chairs, seat lifts, gauntlets, erectile dysfunction pumps, bedside and composite commodes and comfy cradle maternity supports. Their new storefront location is located at 630 Meriweather Road in front of Pack Rat Storage. You can contact them at (478) 414-1120.