123: Aimee Ross, Director of Bike Bentonville

It wasn’t long ago that the only thing we knew about Bentonville was that it was home to Walmart’s headquarters. Now in 2020, this small Arkansas town has made a name for itself in the cycling community and is continuing to grow by the day - literally. The town welcomes an average of 34 people moving to the area every day!

Aimee Ross, Director of Bike Bentonville, is my guest on this episode and shares how collaboration is key. By structuring Bike Bentonville under the city’s tourism bureau, Visit Bentonville, the community has done something truly unique. Ross discusses how she came on board as Director, the structure of the organization, the relationship with Visit Bentonville, the collaboration with other towns such as Fayetteville and so much more. 

In this episode, you’ll learn how Aimee and her team are not only introducing cycling to more people, they’re creating meaningful economic growth through outdoor recreation. Also, we talk through one of the most important and impactful facets of Bike Bentonville’s success, how the growing ‘cycling destination’ is intentionally creating an inclusive community around making cycling accessible to all interested residents and tourists. 

Bike Bentonville is putting the small town of Bentonville on the map. Learn how Aimee continues to build the stoke and get the word out about his gem of a cycling destination through multiple channels on this episode. It’s a good thing we include the transcript - this interview is so good, you’ll want to listen to it more than once, and read the transcript!

Aimee Ross is a 14-year cycling industry veteran with experience spanning from manufacturing, sales, marketing, event coordination, advocacy, development, and education. She is currently the Director of Bike Bentonville, the Visit Bentonville cycling brand created to promote and sell Bentonville, Arkansas as a destination.  Cycling is her passion, and she believes it should be available to all people. Aimee’s focus on a daily basis is to help create more and better cycling access in Northwest Arkansas, doing her part to help create opportunities for a larger culture of active and healthy community members. Aimee holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Applied Arts from Central Michigan University.