By Dan Werner

“Hey, Rickshaw Willie,” someone calls out as Tim Wilhelm drives his Pedicab down Main Street in Akron, Ohio. It’s a common occurrence these days, as Wilhelm, aka “Rickshaw Willie,” has become somewhat of a local celebrity.

“Everybody has to have their picture taken with Rickshaw Willie,” Wilhelm says. “People are hugging me all the time, and kids will run out to the edge of the curb to high-five me as I drive down the road. Even some local business owners came up to me while I was eating dinner and told my wife that I had become a downtown Akron icon.”

But it was only about a year ago when the 54-year-old Wilhelm found himself depressed and at a crossroads in his life. A truck driver for 31 years, Wilhelm became the victim of a sagging economy when the trucking company he works for merged with another and then decided to take him out of his truck and onto the loading dock.

“It was about the lowest point I had ever been in my life,” he says. “I didn’t know if I’d pull out of the depression, but I’m not a quitter, so I kept thinking about what I could do.”

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They provide pollution-free transportation while helping keep drinkers from driving

Matt and Natasha Elliott will do the legwork for your next night on the town.

The Modesto couple have started a pedicab business, pulling customers in a small, open-air coach attached to a bicycle.

The business, Downtown Peddlers, is believed to be the first of its type in the city. It started in November and could add a second vehicle next week.

“We always wanted to do something that would be environmentally good, and we also get to work out,” Natasha Elliott said. (more…)

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