The idea of tying into the cycle tourist market is great. Having a nice pitstop on a popular route would definitely be an advantage. Is there a college in your town? If not, you might try to hook up with the school district and get high school kids involved. These days kids are always looking for service/volunteer hours, and it gets them into cycling and possibly into a paying job during college. I'd also look at community service organizations that provide services to disadvantaged families.
Steve Andruski The Rockville Bike Hub
On Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 12:09 PM, Jean-François Caron jfcaron3@gmail.com wrote:
I don't have any experience, but working collaboratively with the established co-ops in the bigger cities would be an obvious thing to try. If the distances are not too far, you could try to make your shop/space/co-op be known as the official bike stop for cyclo-tourists between the two cities. This could bring in the kind of revenue and awareness that helps co-ops survive.
Jean-François
On Dec 12, 2016, at 08:59 , tim crandall tpcrandall@yahoo.com wrote:
Hey there,
Has anyone had any success in setting up a coop or any cycling project
in a rural area/small town?
There’s a small town/city nearby with less than 16000 population.
Recently, the first cross-town multi-use trail has been approved, and I’d like to jump on that momentum to further some of my own ideology.
We’re also right between two largish urban areas, so the draw would be
local only, as each of those areas are already served fairly well.
I’d ideally like to set something up where I can teach the community
bike safety and skills, teach kids bike repair, sell rehabbed bikes, and be a community anchor.
I’ve studied programs in larger urban areas, and have an idea of what
works, but would really like some input from some rural programs. The city is cool, but the countryside is where I live and the area that I’d like to improve for cyclists as far as road safety, accessibility, and further down the line, multiuse trails.
I’d like to look at some other similar models, and see what I can draw
from these. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Tim ____________________________________
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