Worcester Business Journal

F O C U S B U S I N E S S L E A D E R S O F T H E Y E A R Randolph's mission remains steady as his company adapts BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to the Worcester Business Journal I n the stories businesses oen tell about themselves, pivot oen shows up as a buzzword, suggest- ing the flexibility and agility to adapt to a fast-changing world. But there are few entrepreneurs who truly embody this ability better than Brandale D. Randolph, founder of e 1854 Cycling Co. Randolph began his career in the finance world, trading commodities at a hedge fund. When the fund went bust, he shied gears entirely, becoming an activist, speaker and writer with a focus on fighting poverty. at anti-poverty work led him to bicycles. "I have no background in cycling," he said. "My background is in poverty alleviation." Back in 2012, Randolph said, he created an algorithm to pinpoint specific populations affected by poverty in any given geography. It turned out, formerly incarcerated mothers are particular- ly likely to suffer from poverty. e situation is a vicious cycle. Employers are oen reluctant to take a chance on people who've been imprisoned, but liv- ing without a decent income can result in going back to jail. A mother without a good job may miss an appointment with her parole offi- cer as she doesn't have transporta- tion or a babysitter. "ere are a lot of little things that poverty puts in the way in terms of their freedom," he said. at's the source of the compa- ny's name, a reference to a meeting of abolitionists in Framingham in 1854. e organizers were fighting the Fugitive Slave Act. "It was all about not allowing those who had established their lives outside slavery to be taken back into slavery," Randolph said. Randolph's original vision for the company was a repair business, compa- rable to Bikes Not Bombs, the Boston nonprofit rebuilding broken bikes and training young bike mechanics. He knew building bikes was a skill to allow formerly incarcerated women to earn a living wage. Over time, the company shied to assembling new bicycles. "at's how the brand got started," Randolph said. "We also started making sweatshirts, T-shirts." e attractive brand and inspiring company mission led to the company being discovered. A 2017 Bloomberg profile brought 1854 national and inter- national notice. Soon, it was shipping its single-speed bikes around the world. In 2018 Randolph was accepted to the accelerator program MassChallenge. Behind the scenes, though, the com- pany was hitting a stumbling block. "e margins started to shrink be- cause the cost of the parts that we were using for our single-speed bicycles was steadily increasing," Randolph said. Between international competition, tariffs and other financial pressures, the company needed a different path. 1854 is now in the process of opening a full manufacturing facility in Hop- kinton, where it will build entire bikes rather than simply assembling them from parts. Randolph anticipates start- ing operations as soon as this summer, hiring 146 workers – including at least 80 formerly incarcerated people – and paying them a living wage. e bikes 1854 builds will be some- thing new – mobile communications systems for community policing. Aer consulting with police departments, Randolph learned about the demand for bicycles equipped with computers. An officer on one of these bicycles would be able to print resources out to hand to a homeless family, scan IDs, or pull up information to find a missing person. Ian Barrett, creative director at Media Boss in Framingham, said he's been continually impressed with Randolph's ability to roll with the punches. "Everything that could happen to him to wreck his business has happened, and yet he is able to pick himself up, dust himself off and get right back into it," Barrett said. e two men met years ago, when they were part of the community group Framingham Downtown Renaissance. Barrett said he was impressed with the vision of marrying the bicycle – a technology symbolizing freedom and independence – with a way to support freedom for vulnerable people. "He's actually trying to give society a way to right a wrong that they've com- mitted," he said. Randolph is working with partners in the manufacturing, technology and ed- ucation worlds to ensure the security of the bikes' computer systems and create training plans for its employees. "A lot of the equipment here there are not formal training courses for," he said. "We're literally going to have to bring in the people who make the robotics." Small Business Leader of the Year Brandale D. Randolph Founder & CEO e 1854 Cycling Co. Headquarters: Framingham His birthplace: Delhi, Louisiana His 3.75-inch-tall army: Randolph collects Funko Pops! 12 Worcester Business Journal | March 2, 2020 | wbjournal.com W PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT

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