Remember me? I was a friendly face with the Chicago Bicycling Ambassadors, Youth Program Manager at West Town Bikes and Shop Wrench at Working Bikes! You may have seen me out with Girls' Bike Club at a CXC race or two. 

Across the country, my partner and I own a small batch pannier and bike pack company, North St. Bags. We sponsored the Bike Ambassadors with Woodward Convertibles (our signature backpack/pannier converrtible) this past summer, and can be found locally at Boulevard Bikes and Comrade Cycles.

We have launched a crowd-funded loan campaign with NPR famous, Community Sourced Capital in order to raise money to purchase additional sewing machines and bulk materials to help us expand at the pace of our growing marketplace!

Here is a direct link to our campaign page.

Thank you for your support!

My best,

Elizabeth

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PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

CONTACT: Curtis Williams, @curtis@northstbags.com, 503.419.6230

DETAILS:

North St. Bags is reaching out to the community to help fund a $10,000 business loan through Community Sourced Capital. Community Sourced Capital is a crowdfunding platform that provides loans to small businesses using capital sourced directly from people in the community.

North St. Bags started in 2009 Curtis began the company in his basement with one sewing machine and an idea that cycling for transportation is one way that we can simplify our lives. In five years, this passion has grown from a solo project to a tight-knit staff of nine, hand producing the highest quality waterproof bike packs and panniers, from US Made materials. As we continue to expand, we are creating jobs in our community and in the United States.

North St. is inviting members of the community to help fund this loan by purchasing Squares, which are $50 units of the total loan. It’s not a donation. It’s not an investment. It’s just a simple way to help a local business, and get paid back.

North St. has big plans. “Our goal is to raise $10,000, but there are some important benchmarks along the way,” says Curtis [owner/designer]. “At the top of our goal we’ll be able to buy waxed canvas for new products, at $20K we can invest in a new Point of Sale system, and at our tangible goal of $10K, we can purchase new sewing machines to improve production efficiency.”

The campaign kicks off Oct. 1st and runs through Oct. 28th.