Adventure Cycling expanding in downtown Missoula despite recession

Tom Hunter was reading a gear review of bicycle panniers when he came across the name of a notable Missoula nonprofit.

"They referred back to Adventure Cycling http://www.adventurecycling.org/ ," said Hunter, of Seattle. "So I followed up and got on their website, and then I got pretty enthused about their organization."

That was roughly a year ago. Hunter, 62, signed up for a membership, joining a long list of bicycle fans paying dues to the "premier bicycle travel organization in North America." Since 2008, the Adventure Cycling Association has bucked the recession and grown its membership, revenue, online presence and visibility.

This fall, it’s also embarking on a $400,000 expansion of its downtown Missoula headquarters, a project estimated to bring a 50 percent staff increase, although not all at once.

By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian

Full St http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_1f2feccc-d847-11e0-8f9c-001cc4c03286.html