“Something is Working Here”: BICAS in the news again
There’s a great story on www.examiner.com about some folks in Yuma coming down to BICAS to get ideas on how to make such a thing work in their city. (BICAS, of course, is Tucson’s bike-repair collective.) They remarked on the line of people waiting to get in before the doors open, and concluded after their visit that “Something is working here.”
I have the same opinion. The place is packed just about all the time. BICAS has not suffered the fate of many non-profits during the economic downturn because it tries very hard to be self-sustainable, that is, not operated by grants. The employees make decisions collectively and change comes slowly, with caution, and with constant concern about whether each new addition is something that can be sustained. It’s a model that is definitely working, with BICAS now in its 20th year in Tucson.
If you ‘ve never been there, you should go check it out. And if you or anyone you know has any bikes collecting dust in a garage, bring them down! Even the non-usable broken parts get turned into art and sold at the annual art auction, the first weekend in December.
–Erik Ryberg