Bicycle Friendly Business

When I started the Boise Bicycle Project in 2007, I knew there was a need for bicycle repair and safety education in the community, but I had no idea how expansive that need really was. It’s been a challenging journey to teach my generation (and older) that there are, in fact, rules of the road and methods of riding that make bicycling a safe, effective, and enjoyable form of transportation. One thing I enjoy these days is teaching brown-bag sessions at local businesses. It seems every employer we talk to welcomes the idea of healthier, more productive employees and we use this interest to get inside and spread our message. Kind of like the Trojan horse, but with less pillaging!

Today is the deadline for the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Business applications and already nearly 700 companies have been designated by the League. Many of those — more than 150 — are bike shops. Inspired by the the League’s Women on a Roll report, a group of female riders in Alexandria, Va., mobilized last month to show their local shops the importance of being women-friendly, as well.

Eighty new and renewing businesses were designated as Bicycle Friendly Businesses in this round of the League’s program — with 10% of awards going to just one community! At the westernmost tip of Lake Superior, eight businesses in Duluth, Minn., were awarded a Bicycle Friendly Business designation by the League. These businesses are the first, hopefully of many, to receive the award in Duluth.

This post comes to us from Lauren Giddens, of Infirmary Health, which recently became the very first Bicycle Friendly Business in Alabama. Read more about the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Business awardees here. With Alabama ranking as one of the most obese states in the country, Infirmary Health strives to make a difference in the health and well-being of the communities we serve.

In 2009 BikePGH saw that the demand for bike friendly workplaces was high. Productive employees wanted to ride bikes to work, and employers wanted to retain those employees. The organization had heard the scenario time after time, yet, there were no experts on how to bring biking’s benefits to Pittsburgh employers. Seeing an opportunity to fill the void, BikePGH began the Bike Friendly Employer program; packaging bike friendliness into a product that employers can use to meet their individual goals and receive recognition for their efforts.

Bicycling is good for Santa Monica, and Santa Monica businesses. The League’s Bicycle Friendly Business program helps coordinate and focus partnerships to get more people riding instead of driving. Partnerships, programs and encouragement are essential to our success.

Our partnership with the City of Santa Monica demonstrates how public and private sectors can successfully work together to create a thriving bike culture. An essential part of our BFB strategy has been developing collaborative relationships with local municipalities. A primary benefit of this collaboration has been the ability to combine resources and strengthen the overall cycling fabric of Santa Monica.

This post comes to us from Chad Pickard, the owner of bike shop Spoke-N-Sport, which today became the very first Bicycle Friendly Business in South Dakota. Read more about the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Business awardees here. When I bough Spoke-N-Sport 13 years ago I didn’t really know what I was doing. Buy low, sell high was about all the business instruction I had. I did know how to bike and I did know what cyclists needed.

Top business innovators, ranging from retail to tech, have invested in bicycling as a way to boost morale, increase energy efficiency and encourage healthy living — and they’re reaping the benefits of being a Bicycle Friendly Business. Today, the League of American Bicyclists announced 80 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses (BFB) in 29 states and Washington, D.C. These new awardees join a trendsetting group of almost 700 local businesses, government agencies and Fortune 100 companies in 46 states and D.C. that are transforming the American workplace.