Missoula’s Adventure Cycling Honored as One of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work 2008

National non-profit organization recognized for outstanding work-place practices and culture

Adventure Cycling Association http://www.adventurecycling.org — North America’s largest cycling membership organization — has been named as one of Outside’s Best Places to Work 2008 http://www.BestPlacesToWorkOutside.com . The first-time award program was created by Outside magazine in partnership with the Outdoor Industry Association and Best Companies Group.

"This is an incredible honor for our organization," says Jim Sayer, executive director of Adventure Cycling. "As a nonprofit we strive to support our talented staff and their dedication to the organization’s mission, as well as encourage a healthy balance between work and the rest of life. Our mission is to inspire people to get out and ride – we definitely want our staff out there too."

The Outside survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best employers in the country that not only create a great work environment but also promote an environmentally friendly business process and create a work-outdoor life balance for employees.

Adventure Cycling works to foster an inclusive and open work atmosphere that is healthy and fun, as evidenced in their creative monthly staff luncheons, noon-hour yoga and Pilates classes, festive (and usually family-friendly) parties, and innovative holidays like the "Gain Daylight, Ride a Bike" holiday, which falls on the Monday after daylight savings begins. Adventure Cycling also offers generous employee benefits, including an extra week of vacation if an employee uses it for a bike trip. Also, for this "bike respite" an employee, and a partner or family member, can ride on one of the organization’s weeklong bicycle tours —typically at $1,000 value per person — for free.

Adventure Cycling has been named one of Outside’s Best Places to Work 2008 in the small-sized category. To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

– Be a for-profit, not-for-profit business or government entity;

– Be a publicly or privately held business;

– Have a facility in the United States;

– Have at least 15 employees in the United States;

– Be in business a minimum of 1 year.

Companies from across the nation entered the two-part process to determine Outside’s Best Places to Work. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall process as well as preformed the analysis and determined the final rankings. The actual rankings will be published in the May 2008 issue of Outside magazine. For more information about Outside’s Best Places to Work program, visit http://www.BestPlacesToWorkOutside.com.

Outside’s BEST PLACES TO WORK 2008

Small-Sized Companies (alphabetical order, no ranking)

Adventure Cycling Association

EPT DESIGN

Kelty

Natural Habitat Adventures

Osprey Packs Inc.

Paradigm Group

Petzl America

Planet Dog

Tabar Inc

Western Spirit Cycling

Medium-Sized Companies (alphabetical order, no ranking)

Alaskan Brewing Co.

Athleta Inc.

Backwoods

Clif Bar & Company

Horny Toad

National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

OCSC Sailing

SmartWool Corporation

Smith Optics

Superfeet Worldwide, Inc.

Large-Sized Companies (alphabetical order, no ranking)

Aspen Skiing Company LLC

Avenue A | Razorfish

Deckers Outdoor Corporation

Google Inc.

Intel Corporation

Johnson Outdoors Inc.

New Belgium Brewing

Patagonia Inc.

Qualcomm, Incorporated

REI

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Adventure Cycling Association is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with more than 43,000 members. A nonprofit organization, our mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. We produce routes and maps for cycling in North America, organize more than 40 tours annually, and publish the best bicycle travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine and The Cyclists’ Yellow Pages. With 37,210 meticulously mapped miles in our route network, Adventure Cycling gives cyclists the tools and confidence to create their own bike travel adventures. Contact us at (800) 755-BIKE (2453), [email protected], or visit http://www.adventurecycling.org.