Three U.S. bike industry leaders were elected as Bikes Belong Coalition board officers at the organizations Nov. 18 meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Steve Meineke, president of Raleigh America, was picked to become president after serving three years as vice president. Former treasurer Chris Fortune, CEO of Saris Cycling Group, was named vice president. Michael Mercuri, VP of SRAM Corporation, was elected treasurer. All three began service immediately.
Kozo Shimano, outgoing board president, opened the meeting by reflecting on his three-year term. The new slate of officers is poised to guide Bikes Belongs board until the end of 2010. This will be a period of unprecedented opportunity for the organization, whose budget has doubled over the last three years. The coming year will be critical as Bikes Belong works to maximize federal funding for bicycling in the next transportation bill, due for approval in September. In addition, Bikes Belong plans to award more than $1.2 million in grants to national, regional, and local bicycling projects next year.
Bikes Belong is the national industry group working to put more people on bicycles more often. Funding comes primarily from bicycle supplier and retailer annual dues. Seventeen industry leaders representing their companies attended the meeting
