By Deb Henry
The Bicycle Collective is ecstatic to announce that they have hired their first full-time director for the Ogden Bicycle Collective. Clint Watson will take over from founding director Josh Jones, who helmed the organization through years of volunteer service since 2009.
Prior to his position in Ogden, Clint worked for the Boise Bicycle Project as program and volunteer coordinator where he developed charitable giving programs, trained hundreds of volunteers to be bike mechanics, and developed Boise’s first bicycle commuter education program, which has since been adopted and expanded by Boise City and Boise State University. He is a Utah native, born in Spring City, and spent years involved with the SLC Bicycle Collective as a board member and keylist volunteer. He considers his early involvement with the Bicycle Collective to be his birth into and his roots in the nonprofit bike scene.
Stepping into the directorial role of the Collective’s second largest branch seems like a natural next step for Clint, who inherits a location that has grown impressively and is primed to expand its programs even further. The Ogden Collective’s new building’s renovation is almost complete and this will lead to new partnerships and opportunities that will be solidified with a full-time director in the city. With its great riding, thriving bicycling industry partners, solid volunteer base, and good organizations that provide for the disenfranchised, Ogden continues to be a great fit for the Bicycle Collective. Clint will no doubt bring great things to the organization, the city, and people who ride bikes.
The funding for the initial costs of the full time position comes from the successful operations of the Salt Lake location’s 2014 season, which will be putting up the seed money to pay Clint’s salary until the Collective reopens in Ogden. The beautiful thing about the self-sustaining nature of the Bicycle Collective’s programs is that they can operate on any level once the doors are open, but because of Clint’s strengths, and the potential in Ogden, the Collective is investing in this now. With the communities generous support across the board, the Collective has grown immensely over the past few years, and this leads to exciting ventures like this.
If you’re interested in meeting Clint as he begins strategizing in his new role or helping with the Ogden location, feel free to reach out via Josh Jones or contact Executive Director David E. Davis for organization-wide opportunities via [email protected].
Salt Lake City: Spring/summer hours will begin on April 1, 2015. Bicycle Prom, the huge annual fundraiser, is set for May 30, 2015, so make sure to save the date and buy your tickets online. Volunteers are always needed to keep the shop buzzing along and build capacity for staff. For the more invested mechanic, there are free Monday night weekly Park Tool school classes, every Monday at 6:00. For the student with time and dedication, there is a new self-directed apprenticeship that can build any interested wrench from the basics up to proficient, with the potential to keep developing skills into master mechanic territory. Women’s Night is weekly on Wednesday Nights from 5:30-9 pm.
Donations: The Collective would be glad to put your bicycle from last season to work as a tax-deductible donation when you upgrade this year. The proceeds will be used to fund one of the many programs to put kids on bicycles, to teach classes and to pay for the mechanics that build bikes for goodwill organizations and which provide critical transportation to members of the community.
Provo Find them online at bicyclecollective.org/locations-a-hours/provo
St. George: If you’re interested in helping get a St. George location of the Bicycle Collective off the ground, send an email to [email protected]
For all things Bicycle Collective, keep in touch via www.bicyclecollective.org, and consider signing up for the mailing list to stay in the loop and get more updates.
