1,132 Bicycle Friendly Businesses

The U.S. Department of State and a two-person pipe organ repair company are among the 73 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses the League of American Bicyclists welcomes to the Bicycle Friendly America Program today. There are now 1,132 Bicycle Friendly Businesses (BFBs) in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

 List of Winter 2016 awardees |  List of all current BFB awardees

Alta Planning + Design distinguished itself with eight offices around the country joining the BFB program this round. Their corporate office in Portland, OR, renewed its Platinum status. According to Steve Durrant, Alta’s Vice President in Seattle, “When our employees bike, great things happen: Parents spend quality time with their kids on the bike commute; our commute takes the same time each day —congestion doesn’t matter; we’re each saving the equivalent of a small mortgage payment by riding every day; we spend time in rolling meetings and visiting project sites the way they will be used.”

Five Rivers MetroParks in Dayton, OH, moved up to Silver status by supporting commuting and recreational cycling. They built and operate the region’s first Bike Hub that offers patrons safe and secure parking, showers and lockers. “We are also nearing completion of a site improvement project at our mountain bike park that is being paid for by the first Recreational Trails Program grant issued in Ohio for a mountain bike-specific facility. This project will provide opportunities for beginner riders to experience riding on a natural surface trail.”

While many businesses have made changes that make it easier for their employees to get to work by bike, and others use biking during the workday for business or pleasure, new Silver BFB Alcoa Davenport Works in Bettendorf, IA, adds a different approach. “Employees with certain jobs (mechanics, electricians, etc.) are assigned a three-wheeled cargo bicycle to use inside of the plant. Every department has ones available for employees to use inside the plant. In total there are 600 cargo bicycles being used internally!”

New Silver BFB, See Click Fix, in New Haven, CT, has created an online tool that allows citizens to report non-emergency issues to their local government. They are “thrilled to see biking groups heavily promoting and using our app to communicate with town staff to report a number of types of street issues (especially potholes!)” They also provide indoor bike parking, a changing room, and bike repair supplies for their employees and support local cycling events.

Bicycle Friendly Businesses see a change not just in how their staff gets to work, but how they feel when they are there. MTM, a new Gold BFB in Lake St. Louis, MO, has found that their “support of bicycling and physical activity at large has had a significant impact on the overall health and wellness of our staff.  Additionally, this has resulted in improved productivity, decreased absenteeism, as well as increased staff retention, morale, and engagement.”

Bronze BFB, Mr. Michael Recycles Bicycles in St. Paul, MN, uses bikes to improve their community. “Our business model is simple. We collect used bicycles, fix them, and give them away. To pay for it, we sell used bicycles, bike parts, and accessories. Our greatest satisfaction comes from situations where we gave a bicycle to a homeless person, the person used the bicycle to get a job, and then the person got an apartment and was no longer homeless. That bicycle transformed their situation. We live up to our motto: ‘Changing lives, one bicycle at a time.’”

To apply or learn more about the BFB program, visit bikeleague.org/businesses. 

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About the Bicycle Friendly America Program: The Bicycle Friendly America program provides incentives, hands-on assistance and award recognition for communities, universities and businesses that actively support bicycling, and ranks states annually based on their level of bike-friendliness. These programs are generously supported by Trek Bicycle and Planet Bike. Learn more.