Norco Products Ltd, Canada's leading bicycle manufacturer and distributor, was honoured, for the 2nd year in a row by BC Business Magazine & Watson Wyatt Worldwide, as one of the '25 Best Companies to Work for in BC'.

We're pleased to, not only be recognized once again as one of the top companies in this province, but also to see that Norco ranks high in the business community on making our working environment a # 1 priority for our employees,'commented Jim Harman, Norco's President, 'Much of our company's growth and success over the years can be attributed to the fact that our employees make the culture, and that they are personally invested in Norco's success.'

The rankings are based primarily on a confidential survey feedback from each company's employees. Over 800 companies from the private, public, Crown, university, municipality, branch plant, and hospital sectors were eligible for inclusion. Roughly 80 companies made it to the final qualifications.

Norco is pleased to announce that, Martin McDonald has been promoted to the position of Toronto Branch Manager.

Martin joined Norco 12 years ago as an inside rep in Customer Service at Norco's Toronto Branch office. He quickly moved up through the ranks to Customer Service Coordinator and was then promoted into an Outside Sales Representative position for the Maritimes region where he enjoyed 6 very successful years. Prior to joining Norco, Martin gained some valuable retail and management experience at Hopkin's Cycle and Sports in Toronto, ON.

With plenty of experience as both an inside and outside customer service rep, along with an intimate knowledge of our dealer base, we're positive that Martin will be a huge contributor to the future success of our Norco Toronto Branch.

Norco takes sales and service very seriously, and aims to provide exceptional customer service to all our customers.We're proud to boast such well educated and highly knowledgeable sales and warranty staff for both our Western and Eastern dealers, and we're excited to see Martin take on this new leadership role.

With 76 wins this year, you'd think Symmetrics Cycling team might be a wee bit tired of showing off. But this past weekend the Symmetrics Cycling team lended two dozen sets of legs for a good cause, riding a stationary bike to fuel the 'Power Smart' Live Powered Billboard. The event was spearheaded to create awareness for both LED lights, and to raise money for the Canadian Association of Food Banks.

Staring Friday, Symmetrics assembled a mix of riders and supporters to help power a special holiday billboard using human energy to light 1,500 LED lights. All of the team's BC-based riders and staff were involved with the event, riding for 24 hours. The event ran for five days, from Wednesday November 22 to Monday November 27.

'It was a really cool event!' Mark Cunningham, co-owner of Symmetrics Cycling said. 'It was great to see all of our riders, staff and supporters take their turn on the bike. We had a ton of people walk by, wave, honk their horns and the whole 24 hours was just a blast.' As well as being fun, the event was a tremendous success. The program had 5 organizations participating (Hydro /PowerSmart, Food Bank, Symmetrics, DDB and SMAK) and raised over $18,000 for the Vancouver Food Bank.

Source: www.symmetricscycling.com

November 24th, 2006 ~ Norco Performance Bikes is excited to announce the addition of Ben Boyko to our Factory Team for the '07/08 season.

The newest member of the Norco Factory Team is currently one of the hottest riders in the freeride/slopestyle scene. This past season, Ben captured top 5 finishes at key slopestyle competitions including: Crankworx (Whistler, BC), Bike Magazine's Monster Park, and the Braun 26Trix (Austria).

Just in case competitions around the globe didn't keep him busy enough, Ben also spent much of last season building and riding for a variety of films. His most recent work includes feature segments in: CKD Bits 3, Kranked 6: Progression, and Run For Your Life 3.

Before he appeared on the mountain biking scene in 2003, Ben spent many years honing his skills on a BMX. He started riding when he was 13 and, shortly after, began entering dirt jump and street competitions. When a friend introduced him to the world of mountain bikes, Ben had so much fun, he decided to spend more time riding 26'. It was a move that has paid off.

Despite his success as a mountain biker, Ben has not abandoned his BMX roots. This season, if his schedule allows, Ben plans to enter the Vancouver Metro-Jam, in addition to all the major slopestyle events.

Norco is excited to welcome another professional and diversely talented athlete to our Team roster for the upcoming season!

In addition to working with Norco and Norco Factory Team sponsors such as: Marzocchi, Denny's, Kenda, and Jagwire, Ben will also be riding for FSA, Dakine, Sombrio, and Mavic.

This summer, enthusiastic Norco riders raised almost $1000 for IMBA-Canada through their purchase of t-shirts and other items at VPS-Fests across Canada!

Each year Norco hosts Customer Appreciation Days (VPS-Fests) where riders can take in some free lift-accessed riding, enjoy Factory Team tech support, and win free gear. But this year, they were also given the opportunity to raise cash for trail-building and cycling advocacy in Canada!

'It was great to see people so willing to support IMBA,' commented Trisha Petrella, Norco's PR/Marketing Coordinator, 'not only do Norco riders say they care about the future of cycling in Canada, they are willing to back it up with their dollars.'

Norco sold a wide variety of gear at VPS-Fest, from t-shirts to beer mugs, with all the proceeds going to IMBA-Canada, and plans to do so again next summer. Thanks again to everyone who attended VPS-Fest this summer, and especially to those who supported IMBA-Canada by purchasing a t-shirt!

For more information about IMBA-Canada go to: www.imba.com/canada