Bicycle Board Members,
A local bicyclist who wishes to remain anonymous observed to me that regarding Positive Spin, he thinks Mark Wise has someone who is willing to do bicycle mechanical work, but there still needs to be some administrative oversight of the PS center. He suggests that the Bicycle Board establish a committee of three persons to run the center, communicate with the public and BOPARC, supervise the work of the mechanic and have the center generally overseen as an education and resource center of the BB. Perhaps the committee of three could be non-BB members recruited for that purpose. Perhaps the BB could ask the city for an extra $5 grand to operate the structure and to pay the rent to BOPARC. He believes that BOPARC might support you on that. The “rent” is $200 a month. The rest of the cash could be used for operation expenses, education of school kids, etc. The Positive Spin has made unique significant contributions doing some bike education and bike distribution in the area, and it would be unfortunate to let its marketing and reputation for success completely die. Even if the PS center could just be open for sales and swaps on Saturday mornings but hold periodic classes and special events after school and on weekday evenings. Perhaps the BB could even install a black board and hold a couple of its meetings each year at the center.
Frank
On Jul 16, 2012, at 10:33 PM, director wrote:
Butch, Frank, Marc et al, Positive Spin has always netted some income at the end each year, primarily from the sale of recycled bikes. This is only because our overhead is quite low. I'll be happy to give a financial summary if interested parties can get together as group so I only have to do it once. This year, which is our best ever, we have grossed about $16000 up to now - as much as we have ever made in an entire year. I'm in the process of getting together monthly reports for this year but an average month has about $1000 expenses. We do a lot of unpaid activities like Toy Drive, Bikes for the World (overseas) that serve to clear out our otherwise unusable inventory. If you advertised through the Bike League or Alliance for Biking and Walking I'm sure you could find someone much better trained and experienced for the job. If they could add kids' "cycling skills" classes, mechanic training, camps, etc. they could bring in additional net income - probably enough to pay them a living wage.
Currently I plan to close the doors Aug. 1 but if there is enough interest in keeping things going I'll hold off the fire sale until someone has been appointed to pay the bills. There are several volunteers who are not in this social circle who would like to continue volunteering in non-leadership roles. Jen Previll - data entry, showroom help. Ken Rice, Bill Jones - repair, freakbikes, showroom help. Joe Sallmen-repair, shop help. Danielle Williams and Derek Springston have expressed keen interest in keeping things going in some way. My suggestion to Marc was that the mission be scaled back from sustainable transportation to bike recycling/bike-ped education. This would drop the advocacy and infrastructure aspects, as well as transit/carpool travel modes.
It's late and I'm tired, so that's all the coherent stuff I can contribute at the moment. I'm anxious to see new leadership emerge to continue filling this important niche of getting bikes that wouldn't get used otherwise to people who wouldn't be able to get one otherwise. And training them to use them safely and enjoyably. Thanks to all of you, for all you've done so far and for the kind words of grattitude. The best thanks, though, will be to see what I've started continue after I'm gone. Nick
Nick Hein LCI# 1705 Director, Positive Spin 803 East Brockway Ave Morgantown, WV ph 304-276-0213
-----Original Message----- From: "Graber, Stephen" sggraber@hsc.wvu.edu Sent 7/16/2012 9:57:26 PM To: "Frank Gmeindl" fgmeindl@gmail.com, "Bicycle Board" bikeboard@cheat.org Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Fwd: Positive Spin
Was Nick able to derive any income at all from Positive Spin? If so perhaps it could be "sold" (I know it's a non-profit) to some like-minded individual and perhaps the BB could help BoParc advertise and interview candidates. With the right person and possibly help from the City and/or BoParc I would think the operation might continue almost as is while providing just enough income to support a "director" that would manage things and oversee whatever volunteers are manning the place now. Doubtful anyone will ever give quite as much as Nick but perhaps they could come close enough to keep Positive Spin spinning. Butch
Stephen G. Graber Biochem & Mol Pharmacology PO Box 9142, HSN-3122 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506-9142 phone: 304-293-2305
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From: bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org [bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf Of Frank Gmeindl [fgmeindl@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 6:35 PM To: Bicycle Board Subject: [Bikeboard] Fwd: Positive Spin
Bicycle Board Members,
Please reply-to-all at your earliest convenience with your thoughts or recommendations for a response to Mark. He is director of BOPARC.
Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Mark Wise" mwise@boparc.org Date: July 16, 2012 3:05:47 PM EDT To: fgmeindl@gmail.com
Frank, I was hoping to speak to the Bike Board about a concern I have related to Bike activities in our community. As you may know Nick Hein of Positive Spin is leaving the area. He has been a vital part of the Positive Spin operation. He has approached BOPARC about continuing the services that Positive Spin provided. We do not have the staffing or expertise to do this but think that it is an important service to offer our community. Do you have any thoughts on how we could integrate the Positive Spin operation under the Bike Board and BOPARC’s umbrella of responsibility? I know we cannot do this alone. Any thoughts? Mark Wise mwise@boparc.org
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