business cycle

Larry Webb wanted to make a difference. Group participation, as it turns out, multiplied the punch as well as the pleasure.

Webb, a local bicycle enthusiast, was inspired to form a cycling team sponsored by his small commercial real estate development company. Collectively, the KDS Meals on Wheels Cycling Team, consisting of 15 men and women from across the community, has pedaled its way to $15,000 in donations for area charities this year.

"We're just a bunch of guys and gals who get together to ride for the fun of it and to raise money for charity," Webb explains.

While the private sector has sponsored professional cycling for decades, organizing corporate teams to benefit nonprofit causes appears to be catching on. Fluor Corporation, Harper Corporation, Greenville Hospital System and St. Francis Health System are just some of the local organizations that have joined in.

The trend capitalizes on a booming interest in cycling as a recreational sport that's being observed both nationally and across the Upstate. Savvy fundraisers, searching for a creative alternative to charity golf tournaments, have carved out a niche hosting bicycle-related events.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society, for example, now sponsors more than 100 charity bicycle rides across the country annually. Organizers encourage participants to form cycling teams at work and elsewhere to maximize their fundraising potential.

Meals on Wheels of Greenville, one of the early local entries in cycling for a good cause, has raised $262,000 during the four years its Wheels for Meals bicycle ride has existed.
In addition to providing much needed funds for nonprofits, companies sponsoring teams get to raise their visibility and cultivate goodwill in the community while reinforcing corporate values and enhancing employee morale.

Such benefits may seem obvious; others aren't.

Nigel Darrington and Tom Rishforth approached their employer, Fluor, about sponsoring a team four years ago. Not only did management agree to some funding, it made Fluor the presenting sponsor for Wheels for Meals (which it remains today).

Darrington says his proposal turned out to be a good match for his former employer's values of wellness and civic-mindedness. "They were supportive of that 100 percent," he says. (Annette Allen, general manager of Fluor's Greenville office, and her husband both ride for the Fluor Cycling Team today.)

The budget paid for team jerseys and riding shorts that proved surprisingly popular. "It was amazing how many people started fundraising just to get a Fluor cycling jersey," says Darrington.
The investment appears to have paid off for everyone.

Charities benefit as team members compete among themselves and with other organizations to raise the most money. Meanwhile, Fluor became the first company in South Carolina and the first engineering firm in the U.S. to earn the designation Bicycle Friendly Business by the League of American Bicyclists.

According to Darrington, other local corporate cycling teams now borrow Fluor's tried-and-true prototype. Most provide cycling gear to individuals who agree to raise money for charity bike races.
But there are also distinctions. While Fluor's approximately 40-member team consists of individuals affiliated with the company, Webb handpicked the KDS team from people he knew personally as well as professionally. "That way we could control it," he says.

All share his mutual commitments to cycling and community. Each is required to ride in and raise money for Wheels for Meals and participate in four other charity events during the year.

Team Harper also first organized around Wheels for Meals. A handful of the building contractor's employees as well as company president, Doug Harper, came together at its founding.

Today, the approximately 70-member team includes individuals who work for or share some professional relationship with Harper Corporation. According to team captain, Tom Fuduric, the company's human resources director, cycling together is good for business relations.
In exchange for wearing the team jersey, Team Harper members embrace its motto, "Riding with Purpose," by pledging to raise $500 for charity during a calendar year.

They combined for $20,000 in donations in the 2010 Wheels for Meals and more than $63,000 for all charities since they began the initiative in 2008.

Team members will be riding in this month's Stars and Stripes Challenge, a cancer research fundraiser in conjunction with the U.S. Pro Cycling Championships held each year in Greenville.
They will be joined by Les Domestique, a corporate cycling team from Toronto, Canada. The combined American/Canadian contingent aims to have 60 participating riders raise more than $20,000.

Webb expects the number of charity cycling events and corporate teams taking part in them to multiply. While not everyone plays golf, most anyone can ride a bike.  And cycling, like golf, is potentially a lifelong activity.

In turn, says John Williams, co-captain of Fluor's team, such events help to grow the sport's acceptance. "The more cyclists we have on the road," he says, "the better it is for all of us."

This article originally appeared in the September 2010 issue of Go Magazine.