Quality Bicycle Products
Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) Initiatives:
1. Our Q Equity and Diversity Internship program that we’ve had since 2017.
2. Our most recent program called Break the Cycle. This is a brand new program with a website coming soon! It’s one of the ways we are hoping to diversify the bicycle industry through education and awareness. It’s a two phase class setting starting this summer in North Minneapolis. Working with local non-profits we are providing the training and funding necessary to teach Black, Indigenous, and People of Color community members bike mechanic basics in a two hour class while providing them with annual memberships to the local bike share system. All trainers of the program will be Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Graduates of the first phase are welcome to join us for phase two which is a six week ongoing education that is far more in depth. By the end of the six week course we hope to establish the mechanic skills needed to walk into any bike shop and obtain a bike mechanic position.
3. Bike Mechanic Scholarships: Formerly known as the QBP Women’s Bike Mechanic Scholarship, we’ve been sending 32 individuals per year to either BBI or UBI which are the premier bike mechanic training programs in the U.S. for a two week course. COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into the 2020 class but we will be recreating the program in the very near future.
4. QBP Community Grant program where we raise and match funds from our suppliers that are then awarded to bicycle retailers that create and encourage bicycle ridership among youth and underserved populations. Applications will most likely open back up January of 2022. We awarded over $100,000 in 2021 already.
Email snesselh@qbp.com to find out how to be involved in these initiatives
