By Libby Hopkins
Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” Karen Wheeler and Amy Doyle can relate to Ford’s statement because they have been working together their whole lives. They are sisters and owners of Beltone Hearing Aid Centers of Tampa Bay.
“We are sisters and have been working as a team our whole lives,” Wheeler said. “We have been serving the hearing impaired in Tampa Bay for over 25 years.”
The sisters have a close-knit family with good old-fashioned values.
“We currently have seven family members at Beltone so it’s no surprise that our family functions usually entail the glamorous discussions about hearing aids and how to best serve our patients,” Wheeler said.
In 1933, Sam Posen wanted to help a hearing impaired friend hear the music of life “as clear as a bell.” He and his wife, Faye, began to design Beltone’s first hearing aids. They opened the Beltone factory in 1940 in downtown Chicago and have been the most trusted brand in the hearing aid industry for 76 years.
“Beltone invented the first behind-the-ear hearing aid in the 1950s, the most powerful in-the-canal hearing aid in the 1980s, the first virtually invisible hearing aid in the 1990s and in 2011,” Wheeler said. “Beltone introduced the first wirelessly streaming hearing aid and introduced the first of its kind hearing aid with streaming capabilities from any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch device in 2014.”
Beltone offers the most cutting edge technology at reasonable prices in addition to the largest national network of locations and the highest level of customer service in the industry.
Since Beltone is a locally owned family business, keeping things local is important to Wheeler and Doyle.
“Amy and I grew up in Tampa Bay and we are raising our families here,” Wheeler said. “Honoring our community through caring for our hearing impaired friends and neighbors is always in the forefront of our minds.”
Beltone honors veterans and military and accepts many insurance plans. It also offers easy financing.
“Our goal is to fit each individual patient’s hearing loss and budget,” Wheeler said.
To learn more about Beltone and the hearing devices it offers, visit www.beltone.com or contact Wheeler at 655-3300. Beltone Hearing Aid Centers of Tampa Bay is located at 10069 E. Adamo Dr. in Tampa.
