September 21. 2011
% Minority & Small Business Week
Page 15
Changing the
Face of Biking
Portland’s first African-American
operated bicycling shop grows
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
A twisted hunk of metal and tires
mangled around a street bicycle rack
is exactly what the recently-opened
Portland Bike Station hopes to avoid
by offering commuters a space to
safely park their bikes inside.
“We don’t want to see bikes
outside,” said Bishop K. Sims, ex­
ecutive director of the Portland Bike
Station. Looking to join the larger
Bike Share program in Portland, the
one-stop shop also offers hourly
and daily rentals and full-service
repairs.
The business united two visions
for Sims, a minister at the Full Holy
Ghost Mission. He created a place
for downtown workers to store their
bikes out of the rain and out harm ’s
way, with another life-long mission,
employing the homeless and people
recovering from drug and alcohol
problems.
A Portland native and son of
minister parents, Sims helps people
in the community transition from
by
past troubles such as jail, drug abuse,
and homelessness, to a more stable
life with positive activities.
As the only African-American-
run bicycle shop in Portland, he
breaks a stereotype in Portland that
there is only a certain race of people
riding bikes.
“The face of bikes needs to
change,” said Sims, who learned
about bikes from his childhood
neighbor, a Schwinn dealer. “It
needs to look more like America.”
With funding from the Full Holy
Ghost Mission, Sims and several
volunteers opened the Portland Bike
Station, located within the Dekum
Building on Southwest Washing­
ton Street and Third Avenue, in
April of this year.
Most of the volunteers and em ­
ployees at Portland Bike Station can
testify that Sims helped them out in
their lives. By gaining job experi­
ence or stable work histories, they
_. .
are making up the favor.
continued
on page 31
photo by C ari
H achmann /T he P ortland O bserver
Bishop K. Sims (right) opened his Portland Bike Station downtown at 515 S. W. Third Ave last April
H e s the first African-American to operate a bicycle shop in Portland and is part o f the changing face
of biking in the city.
Let’s
Build
Together
At the Port of Portland we are constantly seeking ways
to increase access and participation of small businesses in
Port business opportunities at our marine, aviation and industrial real
estate properties. Our small business development programs include
a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, an on-line supplier
registration system and the very popular Port Mentor Protégé Program
which matches successful business leaders with emerging small
businesses to provide professional guidance and business counseling.
To find out more, log onto www.portofportland.com
or contact Angela Watkins at angela.watkins@portofportland.com.
© PORT OF PORTLAND
Possibility. In every direction.’
During the construction of the Port's new headquarters building more than $45 million in contracts w<
awarded to 70 small businesses - about 24 percent of all of the contracts issued for the pro(e
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