When Jonathan Youngman moved from Toronto to Franklinton, one of Columbus’s most underserved neighborhoods, he noticed something: people owned bicycles, but couldn’t afford to maintain them. In a neighborhood where a bicycle is often someone’s only reliable transportation, a flat tire or broken brake cable isn’t an inconvenience. It’s a barrier to employment.
He founded Franklinton Cycle Works to address that specific problem, and the organization has expanded into something considerably broader.
The Co-op Model and Why It Matters
Franklinton Cycle Works operates as a cooperative, meaning members can elect leaders, participate in decisions, and genuinely share in how the organization runs. This democratic structure is deliberate, not incidental. In a community where many residents have experienced institutions that operate on them rather than with them, the co-op model is part of the mission.
The repair shop is open to community members who want to bring in their bikes for service or learn to fix them independently. The Bike School program teaches students to fix flats, adjust gears and brakes, and true wheels — practical skills for maintaining the transportation many of them depend on daily.
The organization recently purchased two buildings to double its footprint: a 2,000 square foot repair shop and 3,100 square feet of retail space. That expansion reflects both growing community demand and Youngman’s vision for a program that blends bicycle access with education, entrepreneurship, and community building.
Bicycles for Independence
The program that may best illustrate Franklinton Cycle Works’ community integration is Bicycles for Independence, launched in partnership with Carol Stewart Village, a housing development supporting young adults aging out of foster care.
For youth transitioning from foster care, transportation access is a concrete barrier to employment and economic stability. The program provides them with their own bicycle and teaches them to maintain it, removing one of the logistical barriers that too often derails young people’s transitions to independence.
This kind of community partnership, connecting a bicycle repair co-op to a housing support organization, is the kind of lateral connection that creates compounding value without requiring either organization to do something outside its core capability.
The most effective community organizations aren’t the ones trying to solve every problem. They’re the ones that know exactly what they do well and build partnerships for everything adjacent to it.
Workforce Development Through Mechanics
The Bike Hub, launched in 2016, added a bicycle education and training program that teaches residents bicycle safety, efficiency, and maintenance in a free, member-accessible facility. It recently moved to 897 W. Broad Street, a building the organization purchased to create permanent space for its work.
The workforce development angle is specific. Youngman’s program trains youth to become mechanics, targeting skills with clear employment value in a sector where demand for trained technicians is real and growing. Partnerships with state workforce development agencies provide additional training access and potential employment connections for participants.
The Career Connections program — a three-week sequence that helps participants identify barriers to self-sufficiency and access resources to address them — connects the bicycle mechanics skill-building to broader employment preparation.
To find out more about Franklinton Cycle Works, visit their:
P.S. If you’re in Columbus and have a bike that needs work, bringing it to Franklinton Cycle Works puts your repair dollars directly into workforce training and community transportation access. It’s one of the more tangible forms of local economic participation available.