Trek Advocacy "We Believe in Action"

At Shenandoah Bicycle Company we are very proud to sell bikes from a company (Trek) that believes deeply in the power of Bicycles. Trek does phenomenal work advocating to get more people on Bicycles. Below is an interview with the owner of a bike shop located in Northern Virginia (The Bike Lane) who sets a great example for how bike shops can be active and involved with advocacy. At SBC we strive to live up to the same ideals and try to improve our community everyday and get more people on bikes.
 

Trek Retailer advocacy spotlight: Anne Mader of Bike Lane

05/01/2013

Trek Retailer advocacy spotlight

Anne Mader, owner of the Bike Lane (locations in Reston and Springfield, VA), recently met with newly-appointed department of Interior secretary, Sally Jewell, to discuss the future of America’s great outdoors. She convened with other stakeholders to explore public-private partnerships to better connect youth and families to the great outdoors.

Below is an interview with Trek’s Advocacy Manager, Brandon Buth:

Q: You just participated in a high-profile meeting with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. What was the premise of the meeting?

A: The premise of the meeting was to celebrate national park week, discuss ways how we can get more kids and families outdoors, and help them create a long lasting connection with nature.

Q: Who all was in attendance?

A: The majority of attendees were from non-profits organizations. Tom Boyle from Gore-Tex and I were the only ones there from the bike industry.

Q: What were your main takeaways from the meeting with Secretary Jewell?

A: Creating meaningful partnerships between the parks, public, and private groups is of the utmost importance. If we want our beautiful parks to be around for our grandchildren, we all need to start working together to preserve and sustain them.

This point especially resonated with Sally Jewell, being the former CEO of REI who has always put a premium on stewardship. She really understands the business part of it as well which is refreshing.

Q: From your experience, what can other bike retailers do to get involved with these types of events, or advocacy in general?

A: The businesses who are interested in getting involved will benefit. Advocacy takes time, money, and the results don’t happen overnight which can be frustrating for some.
Find a way to say yes to your local groups, they really are the ones getting more people out riding in your community.

If you look at advocacy in the big picture as opposed to ‘what’s this going to get me today?’, great things will happen.