People Power of Santa Cruz County Offering Free Bike Commuting Workshops to Local Businesses and the Community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 17, 2014

PRESS CONTACT - Amelia Conlen, (831) 425-0665, director@peoplepowersc.org

People Power of Santa Cruz County Offering Free Bike Commuting Workshops to Local Businesses and the Community

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, February 17, 2014 – People Power of Santa Cruz County is partnering with two interns from the UC Santa Cruz Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) program to create and host bicycle commuting workshops throughout Santa Cruz County. They seek ten local businesses that would like to provide lunchtime workshops to their employees, available between March and July of 2014. There will also be free community workshops offered monthly, starting March 17th from 6-7PM at the People Power office, 703 Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz.

Making your daily commute by bicycle can be a daunting prospect – what do you wear? How do you transport kids, laptop or a change of clothes? What about when it rains? The workshops are designed to answer all those questions and more, including rules of the road, basic skills and maintenance and how to choose the best route. By offering workshops at local businesses, employees can ask questions and get feedback specific to their daily commute, such as the best nearby routes and where to safely park and lock their bike.

People Power is seeking businesses that are willing to host a workshop, with a goal of having at least 10 employees at each one. Smaller businesses are encouraged to participate and reach out to businesses nearby to invite others to fill the workshop. In the coming weeks, the team will be reaching out to local businesses, but interested employers are encouraged to contact People Power directly.

If you are an employer looking to host a bike commuting workshop at your business, please contact Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power, at (831) 425-0665 or send her an email at director [at] peoplepowersc.org 

Community workshops will take place monthly from 6-7PM on the 3rd Monday of the month, starting March 17th. Workshops will be held at the People Power office, 703 Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz. To register for a workshop, visit http://www.peoplepowersc.org/ 

Funding for the workshops is provided by the UC Santa Cruz Carbon Fund, which awards grants to local projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, research methods for doing so, or educate the community through behavior change programs. For more information about the Carbon Fund, visit http://sustainability.ucsc.edu/get-involved/funding/carbon-fund/index.html

About People Power
Since its inception in 1991, People Power has been improving the quality of life in Santa Cruz County by promoting bicycling and other forms of sustainable transportation. More information about the organization’s work can be found online at http://www.peoplepowersc.org/ 

About UC Santa Cruz IDEASS Program
UC Santa Cruz Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) is a service-learning program designed to empower students as change agents to face the challenges of the 21st century. In this yearlong upper-division course, students work together in teams with professional mentors to design and implement a project related to sustainability. For more information, visit the website at http://sustainability.ucsc.edu/get-involved/jobsinternships/ideass/index.html