Missoula in Motion honors Art Museum of Missoula, Big Dipper Ice Cream and Holiday Inn Parkside for taking strides to address transportation, air-quality and parking challenges.

Three Missoula businesses have been honored for taking strides to address transportation, air-quality and parking challenges.

Honored were the Art Museum of Missoula, Big Dipper Ice Cream and Holiday Inn Parkside.

By MICK HOLIEN of the Missoulian

The businesses were feted by Missoula in Motion, an organization founded in 1997 to oversee the city’s transportation-demand management program under the direction of a steering committee and the Office of Planning and Grants.

Nora Knell, Missoula in Motion’s program coordinator, said honoring the businesses serves as an example not only to customers but to other businesses.

"By looking at these businesses and pointing out what some of these exemplary practices are, we’re sort of making a statement about what we want to see more of," she said.

Award winners receive $1,000. Some previous award winners have reinvested their award money to make additional improvements to their alternative-transportation efforts.

Last year, for example, Community Medical Center used the money to put in a bike-bank system, A Simple Practice Chiropractic Care advertised a 20 percent discount it provides to clients who bike, walk, bus or carpool to their appointment, and Great Harvest Bread Co. launched an employee cash and prize incentive program.

Art Museum employees do as many errands as possible on foot or bicycle. The museum additionally has embraced alternative-transportation options such as walking, biking and riding the bus and installed new bike racks.

Big Dipper Ice Cream was honored for replacing old bike racks, expanding bike parking and investing in a small fleet of bicycles for employees to run errands and commute to and from work.

Holiday Inn Parkside encourages employees to use bus passes, provides secure bike parking for employees and allows schedule flexibility which allows employees to carpool or take the bus to work.

"A lot of innovation," said Knell. "Each of them does it a little differently. There’s a lot of variety there."

Businesses are considered for the awards each November after a short nomination form is completed.

"Sometimes we have customers who nominate a business so it’s really a variety of things," she said.

This year there were 16 nominations, more than in the previous four years.

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