ASHLAND, OR (BRAIN)—United Bicycle Institute (UBI), responding to sold out classes and six month waiting lists, is expanding into a new classroom location at 3961 North William’s Avenue, Portland, Oregon. The school hopes to offer its first classes at the location by early August.
“Expanding to Portland is something we have planned for quite some time but we had to get all the little things taken care of before we wanted to make our intention public,” said John Baxter, UBI’s administrator.
The first offerings in Portland will be mechanics classes, the most oversubscribed of UBI’s offerings. There are two buildings on UBI’s property, one is being renovated now for 20 mechanics students, the other building will be for future frame building classes.
UBI’s Ashland, Oregon, campus is unaffected by the expansion. Prospective students will probably choose campuses based on availability if they have time constraints, said Baxter. If timing is not crucial mountain biking students will gravitate to Ashland and its miles of single-track, and urban bike students will prefer Portland. Portland’s international airport also makes it easier for international students to reach classes.
“Portland’s development council has been extremely helpful during this process though so far they have not offered any tax breaks. They have identified several industries they want to support and bicycling is one of them,” Baxter said.
The developer renovating UBI’s property also owns adjacent parcels for which it is looking for additional cycling businesses. It is also planning small incubating spaces for individual frame builders, or bag and apparel makers.
UBI hired a new instructor last year with the intention of having sufficient instructors for the Portland campus. UBI will also have a small administrative office in Portland, but the bulk of the company will remain in Ashland.
