By Sharon Verbeten
Heather Cleveland has always valued a sustainable lifestyle — and that’s the mindset with which she created the Green Bicycle Company in Sheboygan. The boutique firm specializes in community-based projects and is committed to selling goods and services that make a local impact — encouraging engagement and sustainability and creating connections.
“This is my way of being part of capitalism but valuing things other than the bottom line,” says Cleveland, an Appleton native with degrees in civil engineering and urban planning.
“This idea was always multifaceted,” says Cleveland, who opened Green Bicycle in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. “It gave me the opportunity to breathe because everything else was in total chaos. Because things were so different, it opened up my ways of thinking.”
Green Bicycle opened in a historic 1887 building in uptown Sheboygan that once housed the well-known Suscha News for many decades. The space now has a shop with curated sustainability and community themed goods, books and more, but it also focuses on hosting events and experiences to create conscious communities. On these projects, Green Bicycle collaborates with the Food Freedom Foundation, Harbor Centre Business Improvement District and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC), among others.
In a testimonial on Green Bicycle’s website, JMKAC Director Amy Horst says: “They are responsive, inquisitive and proactive. They took on the daunting task of cultural asset mapping and turned it into an ongoing investigation that continues to impact the role youth have in the community, the design of third spaces and how we work collaboratively to create a healthy and vibrant Sheboygan.”
This holistic approach to business is what Cleveland calls an XYZ business model — combining consulting, shopping and experiences. Being diverse in offerings, she believes, eliminates the feeling that a company’s outreach is siloed. Green Bicycle Co., so named for her favored mode of transportation as a child, is a lifestyle valued-based business. “It’s a new concept,” she says.
“I’ve been to different parts of the world and have seen how things are boldly different,” says Cleveland, raving particularly about the bicycle infrastructure she witnessed in Amsterdam, with dedicated lanes for bicyclists. “I had never seen that before, never contemplated that could exist,” she says, adding that such a movement could help revive downtowns.
Green Bicycle’s mission is about connecting the dots among making money, living sustainably and making a difference. Having previously worked in nonprofits and consulting, Cleveland “saw the disconnects” and wanted to address that with a new style of company.
And while Cleveland is interested in social impact, she knows younger generations are just as interested, if not more, in these goals.
“The millennials care about this,” she says. “As they have grown and come into leadership positions, we’ll be ready when they’re ready.” The company’s high school internship program is one way to engage today’s youth in their mission.
And in working with established entities in the region, Cleveland says Green Bicycle is already making an impact and hoping to interact even more down the road.
“When people really need help, or want to shift to more community engagement, we’ll be there to help.”
