Unite and Conquer

The San Diego Union Trib. did a story Sunday on the more than two dozen bike industry companies based in the San Diego area. The list is impressive and it ranges from several small framebuilders to well-known brands like Speedplay, Electra, Ellsworth, NiteRider, and Haro.

This comes out just days after the Wisconsin Journal reports that the cycling industry's impact on Wisconsin's economy is somewhere near $835 million. (read a PDF of the full report).

This is great exposure for the industry and I think we could see even more of this if bike industry companies began to form trade associations. With common goals and pooled resources, bike companies could do great things; from commissioning studies that convince law-makers to take bikes seriously to marketing campaigns that help cycling compete for the mainstream recreational dollar.

Co-operative efforts are common in other industries that are full of small-to-medium sized companies without the money to make an impact in their local market by themselves. Maybe now it's the bike industry's turn.