How Arkansas Moves Is Helping Bentonville Businesses Build a Culture Where Biking Belongs

From Walmart Move to local coffee shops, employers of every size are helping make bicycling a normal, practical part of everyday life.

In Bentonville, bicycling is becoming more than recreation. It is increasingly part of how people get to work, school, meetings, businesses, and community destinations. Highly visible initiatives such as the Walmart Move hub and Ride to Work Wednesdays have helped put active transportation in the spotlight. But lasting culture change depends on what happens beyond the biggest employers and events.

Across Bentonville, small businesses, nonprofits, hospitality providers, campuses, and community partners are making it easier and more welcoming to arrive by bike. Arkansas Moves is helping connect those efforts through Bicycle Friendly Business workshops, applicant support, local partnerships, mini grants, and collaboration with the League of American Bicyclists.

“Walmart, awarded Platinum-level bike friendly business in 2024, has made active transportation more visible and accessible by giving associates practical resources and support to consider biking as part of their commute. Initiatives like the Walmart Move hub and Ride to Work Wednesdays create opportunities for associates to experience active transportation firsthand and see it as a realistic option for getting to and from work. Building a lasting culture around active transportation also takes participation across the community.”

Ashley Patterson, Senior Manager, Mobility, Walmart

Culture Change Happens at the Destination

Trails, bike lanes, greenways, and safer streets matter, but a bicycle-friendly trip ultimately ends somewhere: a workplace, school, coffee shop, hotel, park, or meeting. Whether someone finds secure parking, a welcoming entrance, supportive workplace policies, or simply a culture that expects people to arrive by bike can determine whether bicycling feels practical on an ordinary day.

That is where the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Business program can be especially useful. It gives organizations a framework for evaluating infrastructure, education, encouragement, planning, and accessibility—and a roadmap for improvement. Arkansas Moves helps local employers navigate that process and connect the national program to Bentonville’s local transportation goals.

“Businesses and community destinations play an important role in maximizing the impact of Bentonville’s investments in trails, safer streets, and active transportation. While the City provides the infrastructure, businesses, employers, schools, parks, and other destinations help create the network of places that people rely on every day. Arkansas Moves provides an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors. By bringing cities, businesses, and community organizations together, we can better understand where connections are needed, identify opportunities to address gaps, and coordinate investments to achieve greater community benefit.”

Samantha Runnels, Bike and Pedestrian Planner, City of Bentonville

Small Businesses Make the Culture Shift Real

Large-scale programs create visibility. Small businesses help make the shift feel normal everywhere else. A coffee shop that welcomes customers arriving by bike, a hotel designed around riders, or a nonprofit that makes bicycles accessible can reinforce the same message: biking belongs here.

“For our clients, a reliable bike is crucial for getting from A to B. Sometimes despite the hard-earned trip, people are met with additional barriers or stigmas upon reaching their destination. Our bicycle friendly businesses ensure these clients feel welcome, supported, and celebrated when they arrive by bike.”

Kenny Williams, Executive Director, Pedal It Forward NWA

“Our guests don’t have to treat their bikes like an inconvenience—we designed the entire experience around them, with in-room bike storage, a 24-hour bike shop, a wash station, rentals, and shuttle service. Small businesses like ours help make bicycling feel normal by showing that it belongs everywhere—not just on the trails. Arkansas Moves helps connect those individual efforts to Bentonville’s larger active-transportation story.”

Jeremy Rose, The Bike Inn, Bentonville

Third Space Coffee offers another example of how a small business can make active transportation part of everyday community life. Its location along Bentonville’s growing bicycle network made Bicycle Friendly Business recognition a natural fit, but owner Brooke Sutton says the deeper goal is accessibility: creating a gathering place people can reach by bike, on foot, by car, or however they travel.

“Arkansas Moves has been such an important advocate and ally to our small business while we applied for our Silver Medal Bicycle Friendly Business recognition. They held information sessions for businesses to understand what is needed to apply and what to expect in the application process, and that was a huge help for us applying for the first time!”

Brooke Sutton, Third Space Coffee

The Next Wave Includes Campuses and Institutions

The culture shift is also expanding beyond traditional businesses. NorthWest Arkansas Community College is exploring bicycle-friendly recognition as part of a broader approach to campus mobility, wellness, and connectivity. With the campus serving as an important connection along the Arkansas-Missouri Trail between Bentonville and Rogers, active transportation affects both the college and the surrounding community.

“Arkansas Moves helped NWACC see that Bicycle Friendly University recognition was about more than bikes. It was about creating a better campus experience and being part of a larger movement that gives people more choices in how they travel and connect with their community. Arkansas Moves has been a valuable partner in helping us think bigger about how bicycling can support mobility, wellness, student success, and stronger community connections.”

Brandon Andrews, NorthWest Arkansas Community College

Partnerships Turn Momentum Into Culture Change

Arkansas Moves’ role is not simply to promote bicycling. It is to convene partners and help employers translate interest into action. Through workshops and one-on-one guidance, businesses can identify what they are already doing well, understand the Bicycle Friendly Business application, learn from peers, and choose realistic next steps.

The Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Arkansas Moves on this work, helping bring active-transportation conversations to the broader business community and reinforcing the connection between mobility, workforce, quality of life, and economic vitality.

“Bentonville has always been a community that believes we’re better together, and our partnership with Arkansas Moves is a great example of that. They’re helping local businesses realize that being bicycle-friendly isn’t just about supporting cyclists—it’s about creating a healthier workforce, improving quality of life, and building the kind of community that attracts great people and great companies. When businesses, nonprofits, and public partners all lean in together, that’s when real culture change happens.”

Brandom Gengelbach, Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce

Sharing Bentonville’s Lessons Nationally

Arkansas Moves is also connecting Bentonville’s local work with national expertise. In June, Arkansas Moves joined the City of Bentonville, City Thread, and the League of American Bicyclists for “How Bentonville Became a Bike City: From Bronze to Silver and Beyond.” On August 25, Arkansas Moves will join the League again for “How to Use Bicycle Friendly Businesses to Advance Bike Advocacy,” sharing lessons about recruitment, applicant support, partnerships, and peer learning.

“Bentonville is one of a handful of communities nationwide who have taken the Bicycle Friendly Business program as a powerful motivator and resource to engage their local business community. Our Fall 2025 BFB round featured 13 applications from Bentonville, and across all application rounds in 2025, no fewer than 24 Bentonville employers either renewed or became BFBs.

Arkansas Moves has been there every step of the way, supporting businesses to apply, creating partnerships, and reaching out to organizations in a range of industry and sizes to continue to level up how bicycle friendly they are—from bike shops to banks, from design firms to the Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce!”

Chris Vaughan, Program Coordinator, Bicycle Friendly America Program, League of American Bicyclists

The recent League webinar:

https://bikeleague.org/calendar/how-bentonville-became-a-bike-city-from-bronze-to-silver-and-beyond/

August 25 webinar registration

Join the September 3 Bicycle Friendly Business Workshop

The next step for local employers is hands-on. Arkansas Moves’ upcoming Bicycle Friendly Business Workshop, presented in partnership with the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, will help businesses understand the program, identify existing strengths, and prepare practical improvements or an application.

Hosted by Arkansas Moves

In partnership with Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026
Time: 9:00–11:00 a.m.
Location: Bentonville Public Library

The workshop is useful for businesses at any stage—from organizations just beginning to explore bicycle friendliness to existing awardees preparing to renew or pursue a higher recognition level. Arkansas Moves will provide practical guidance and connect participants with local examples and national resources.

Could Your Organization Be Next?

The biggest initiatives may start the conversation, but culture change is built one destination at a time. Every workplace that adds bike parking, supports an employee champion, welcomes customers arriving by bike, or completes a Bicycle Friendly Business application makes bicycling feel a little more ordinary—and a little more possible.

The next national Bicycle Friendly Business application deadline is October 28, 2026. Arkansas Moves can help local organizations prepare.

Register for the September 3 workshop:Coming soon!

Learn about Bicycle Friendly Business: https://bikeleague.org/bfa/business/

View current Bicycle Friendly Businesses HERE

Biking belongs here. Arkansas Moves is helping more businesses make that message visible every day.