Statewide initiative is launched in Easton to help Pennsylvania outdoors businesses thrive

Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation industry already contributes nearly $17 billion to the state’s economy. A new statewide initiative launched Monday in Easton aims to draw more businesses into sharing the wealth and prospering.

State and local officials joined Easton small-business owners in unveiling Elevatea campaign dedicated to growing the outdoor recreation industry across Pennsylvania.

“Elevate is a public engagement program designed to pull together our outdoor businesses in Pennsylvania and lift up our great outdoor industry,” said Nathan Reigner, director of outdoor recreation for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “We need to hear from outdoor businesses about what needs you have – what needs you have for advocacy, what needs you have for support – and how we together can better enable business to business relationships, can address barriers to growth, can develop our outdoor workforce, empower our outdoor entrepreneurs and stimulate innovation within our outdoor industry.”

Under Gov. Josh Shapiro, the DCNR and the state Department of Community and Economic Development through the Appalachian Regional Commission shared the $200,000 grant for administering the initiative, awarded to the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission. It’s a year-long project that seeks to draw outdoors business owners’ input, beginning with a survey.

“We’ll be contacting those businesses, requesting their input through the survey,” Reigner said. “And as the program of engagement moves forward, we’ll be looking for leaders to step up and help organize themselves in the different sectors of the industry.”

Easton Outdoor Co., an outfitter based at 230 Northampton St., hosted Monday’s rollout for Elevate. As a “producer,” Reigner explained, it’s one of three classes of outdoor businesses he calls the three Ps, along with “providers” and “professionals.”

Those businesses employ more than 164,000 people, the DCNR says. Together, they added $16.9 billion in value to Pennsylvania’s economy in 2022according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, through their gross output, employment and compensation. The sector was the eighth-largest in the nation, according to the report, with Pennsylvania trailing just California, Florida, Texas, New York, Illinois, Washington State and Ohio.

“Our business is more than just a gear shop,” Easton Outdoor owner Adam Fairchild said after opening 13 years ago, expanding about 2 1/2 years ago. “We’re not just here for you to come and buy a product, and we’re not just here to take your money for that product. Our staff are really ambassadors for the outdoor space. We help kind of direct people to those outdoor spaces where they can go and enjoy the products that we sell, but just enjoy the outdoor resources that we have.”

Representing the provider category was Karen Prieto, owner of Twin Rivers Tubing. They just finished their 11th season, seven of which were in Phillipsburg before New Jersey stopped granting commercial use permits, she explained. Easton welcomed the business into the city’s economy, and river tubers now can show their Twin Rivers wristband for a discount at participating businesses.

“We realized that coming here, we were part of a bigger picture,” Prieto said. “When people get off the river, they get off hungry and they get off thirsty. And they started to utilize the town. And we started hearing from restaurants saying, ‘Wow, we see a lot of your customers.’ How do we keep this going?’”

Hearst Magazines Editorial Director Bill Strickland spoke Monday on behalf of the professionals category of outdoors businesses. He touted the Lehigh Valley’s natural amenities that have helped him fill positions for testing and profiling gear from running shoes to outdoor pizza ovens across the five brands of the Hearst Enthusiast Group based across South Third Street from Easton City Hall.

“You know, it’s sort of this highly sought class of workers that cities want right now,” he said. “And it’s helped me recruit people because we’re close to these outdoor amenities. What people look for are housing, food, art, music and other social culture, and outdoor availability. With this, we’ve been able to recruit people from Brooklyn; from Portland, Oregon; from Austin – all over the country. All over the country people are coming to Easton because they see what we have here.”

Reigner rattled off numerous businesses in Pennsylvania dedicated to celebrating the outdoors in activities like bicycling, boating, hiking and hunting; gardening and outdoor concerts; and construction, travel and tourism, local trips and government expenditures. He mentioned national brands like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Zippo, Kate’s Real Food Bars and FishUSA; smaller businesses like the Easton Outdoor Co., VeloJawn Bicycle Shop in Philadelphia and 3 Rivers Outdoors Co. in Pittsburgh; global companies with their North American headquarters in Pennsylvania like OM System and BikeCo; and homegrown innovators like Gilson Snow, Purple Lizard Maps, DiamondBack truck covers and Brokenstraw Outdoors.

“It really is a time that has come to help them to coalesce; make sure that we understand their needs, their challenges, their opportunities; make sure that people adjacent to Pennsylvania come here, spend their money,” said Neil Fowler, executive director of the DCED’s Center for Strategic Partnership.

Combined, Pennsylvania’s outdoors businesses support a healthier and vibrant community in places like Northampton County, which is investing $25 million in land preservation, according to county Executive Lamont McClure and Easton City Council members Ken Brown and Frank Pintabone.

“It’s all interconnected, and it’s what makes our state such a wonderful place to live in,” said state Rep. Robert Freeman, D-Northampton.

Outdoor businesses can learn more about the Elevate survey available at elevatoroutdoorspa.com. The next steps for Elevate also include regional listening sessions, Reigner said: “We’ll be calling all of our outdoor businesses together for an input session to discuss common needs and brainstorm ways the industry can get together and support itself.”

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at [email protected].