![(Left to right) Casey Pavek, manager of Venture North Bike Walk & Coffee, taught bike repair to 13-year-old Kieara Sampson during Open Shop when the bike shop becomes a classroom for the community. Sampson will earn a free bike by learning how to fix it. ]Joey McLeister,Special to the Star Tribune,St. Paul,MN October15,2013](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/AQ2NNLVBZUKL2SBZCHJEPOFA5Y.jpg?&w=1080)
Venture North Bike & Coffee Shop
1830 Glenwood Av., Mpls; 612-377-3029; www.facebook.com/venturenorthbwc
North Minneapolis hasn't had its own bike shop in a "really, really, really long time," said Casey Pavek, general manager of Venture North Bike & Coffee Shop. This full-service bike shop and youth development program opened on the north side in 2011, providing hands-on training to neighborhood kids while filling an important hole in the local retail mix. Founded by Redeemer Center for Life, a stalwart nonprofit in the Harrison Neighborhood, Venture North provides neighborhood kids with hands-on training in bike maintenance and repair while improving access to bicycles. Venture North graduates about 16 apprentice bike mechanics every year, with 50 kids completing the shop's popular annual Earn-a-Bike program. For adult bike-lovers, Venture North has everything you expect from a neighborhood bike shop: a staff of professional bike mechanics, full-service maintenance, custom build-outs and a showroom packed with cool bikes (Venture North specializes in affordable secondhand varieties). Plus, the shop is outfitted with an espresso bar serving excellent lattes and Peace Coffee.
Q: Why is your work important?
A: My work is important because it gets the blood moving. I have the pleasure of riding my bike into work everyday. That experience starts your day right, kind of like having a really good breakfast. Having the ability to share that experience with other people is amazing. And I just really, really love all kinds of bikes. Running an operation that up-cycles a durable good like a bicycle is a pretty rewarding thing.
Q: What is the organization's biggest accomplishment?
A: That's tough because we're an organization within an organization. Redeemer [Center for Life] works on jobs, youth engagement and housing, so I guess we're hitting two of the three with Venture North. Probably the biggest accomplishment concerns the overall block, just being here, next to the church, and creating a friendlier block. If there's no bike shop in your area, you probably don't own a bike. Just like if you don't have a grocery store you don't have access to healthy food.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you face?
A: The biggest challenge is fine tuning how we do what we do. We're such a small organization, but we want to run it efficiently as possible. It's working on simple things like how we receive bikes — how do we organize them and determine their fate? Sometimes you go into a bike shop and you see a big pile of bikes next to the front door. But in our case, we want to create a consistent environment for kids. They should come in and know exactly what to expect from us.
