Group cycling across the country stops in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Co-Cycle is a group of women riding across the country with an important message. It's something they say Milwaukee already has a leg up on.

The women live all over the country, many not knowing each other before this adventure. But now they are riding from Seattle to Boston, stopping in about a dozen cities along the way to check out all the different cooperatives, or co-ops, popping up. Monday and Tuesday, their journey brought them to Milwaukee.

“The goal of Co-Cycle is both to empower cyclists and to strengthen cooperative networks and educate ourselves and other people about the cooperative movement,” said Charlotte Cadieux.

"Co-Cycle” members said that education is needed now more than ever.  “We have just seen some economic downturns, and they`re popping up a lot more as a result,” said Michelle Week.

A co-op is owned and run by its members giving them control. It doesn't focus on profit and competition, as much as meeting the needs of the community it's in, and it keeps the money local. It can be anything from a farm, to grocery stores, to book stores, to manufacturing companies. Cadieux explained that some people don’t even realize they use a cooperative business.

“"Some of the biggest companies and household names are cooperatives-- like Land of Lakes, Organic Valley, Ace Hardware," Cadieux said.

The group says what they have found here in Milwaukee has been very unique and inspiring. One of those unique finds was the Riverwest Public House. It’s a consumer-owned bar; one of only two beer-focused cooperatives in the county. But it’s not just what it does that makes it unique, it's how it operates with the other cooperatives in the area.

“Their end goal was to support the River west cooperative alliance and help build more co-ops and financially support those co ops, offer training for those co-ops and build a cooperative economy,” Weeks said.

It's something the women say Milwaukee should be proud of, and something they will remember as they hit the road. “It's something we hope succeeds and we can replicate in other communities,” said Weeks.

They came to Milwaukee from Madison, and are headed to Chicago from here. Their trip started June 6th in Seattle and will end August 26th in Boston. For more information go to their website, by clicking HERE.