FAYETTEVILLE -- The city's Sustainability and Resilience Department plans to use $2,230 from the Advertising and Promotion Commission to help encourage people to ride their bicycles during the month of May.
Commissioners unanimously signed off on the request, for Fayetteville Bike Month on Monday.
Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission
Also on Monday, commissioners selected Matt Behrend, general manager of the Fayetteville Holiday Inn Express, for a four-year term starting April 1.
Behrend has served on the commission since early 2013, when he replaced outgoing Commissioner Hannah Mills.
His selection still must be ratified by the Fayetteville City Council.
One other candidate, Jim Huson, who owns Doe’s Eat Place restaurants in Fayetteville and Bentonville as well as the old post office building in the center of the downtown square, interviewed for the position.
Source: Staff Report
National Bike Month has been celebrated in Fayetteville for years.
Events typically include a Bike-to-Work Week challenge and at least one organized ride throughout town.
This year, the city has several more events planned in conjunction with the May 2 grand opening of the Razorback Greenway, a 36-mile shared-use trail connecting north Bentonville to south Fayetteville.
"Bicycle culture is growing in Northwest Arkansas and, more specifically, here in Fayetteville," Peter Nierengarten, sustainability director, told commissioners Monday. "We're hoping to use Bike Month to help catapult and help that interest in bicycling grow."
Bike-to-Work Week is still planned May 11-15. Individual employees and businesses will compete to see who can pedal the most miles to and from work that week.
The city and the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks will staff a booth at the Fayetteville Farmers' Market on Saturdays in May. Representatives from local bike shops will be on hand to provide limited bicycle maintenance.
Officials are also organizing a community bike ride to the Razorbacks baseball game against the University of Tennessee on May 10. Participants will gather at the depot on Dickson Street 30 minutes before the game begins and ride to Baum Stadium together.
Nierengarten said all of the Bike Month events stand to benefit local businesses that pay hotel, motel and restaurant taxes.
He cited a recent study from the League of American Bicyclists examining the economic impact of bicycle tourism.
"Sixty million U.S. cyclists spent over $45 billion last year on meals, transportation, lodging, gifts, etc. around their bicycling experience," Nierengarten said.
City officials initially asked for $4,460 from the A&P Commission for fliers, banners and advertisements promoting Bike Month.
Several commissioners resisted the request at first, saying it should have come during biannual funding applications the commission receives in April and October.
After about a half-hour of discussion, however, the commission voted to commit to half of the city's request.
"Not only is it a month-long event, but we are opening up the greenway, and that's a big inaugural event that really showcases Northwest Arkansas," Ching Mong, commission chairman, said. "I think it's a benefit to all of us ... as far as brand identification."
"There's certain things we really want to show people who we are and what we represent," Mong added. "I think this is a good investment."
Commissioner Matthew Petty, who's also on the City Council, said the commission's investment could be used to attract matching sponsorships from local businesses.
The $2,230 will come out of a pool of money set aside for special funding requests from event organizers and nonprofit groups this year, but, in future years, promoting Bike Month could be factored into the commission's regular advertising budget.
NW News on 03/17/2015