Queens bike maker seeks big leg up

From Crain’s New York Business online…

Queens bike maker seeks big leg up

Longtime supplier in race for citywide contract; will deep local roots help?

By Hilary Potkewitz

STAYING CURRENT: Worksman Cycles has shifted its emphasis to recreational bikes.

Ever since the city's Department of Transportation started asking for proposals for a citywide bike-share program in November, a small bike factory in Queens has been trying to get noticed.

“It's a grassroots effort at this point, but we're trying to create as much awareness as we can with local businesses, the Department of Transportation and the Mayor's Office,” says Wayne Sosin, president of Worksman Cycles. In fact, the company has been quietly wheeling out heavy-duty bicycles and tricycles in Ozone Park since the 1890s.

“No other city has the opportunity to source their bicycles from their own local bike manufacturer,” Mr. Sosin adds, noting that Worksman bikes are already used in several smaller U.S. cities' bike-share programs. “If that didn't happen in New York, it would be tragic.”

A contract for 10,000 or more bikes for New York City's program would be a huge boost for the small company, and would mean hiring more welders, painters, assemblers and packers for the Queens plant. That's a fact not lost on local politicians. Nearly all of Worksman's employees live in the five boroughs.

Read on here.