Today the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) and the West Virginia University Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative (WVU OEDC) announced the National Outdoor Recreation Workforce Consortium (“Consortium”) to unite private-sector outdoor recreation business interests with leading 2- and 4-year institutions providing career and technical education for the outdoor recreation workforce. The Consortium, comprised of representatives from leading academic institutions and outdoor recreation trade association and businesses, will help better prepare companies, higher education institutions, and the workforce for tomorrow’s outdoor recreation career opportunities.
“The $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy and its 5 million jobs rely on resilient, accessible, and future-forward workforce development strategies,” said Jessica Wahl Turner, President of Outdoor Recreation Roundtable. “We are thrilled to partner with the Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative at West Virginia University to bring to life some of the key outdoor workforce opportunities in skill development, communications, and education identified in our years of research across the outdoor recreation economy.”
“The consortium could not come at a better time, as both the industry and higher education recognize the need to collaborate on workforce development needs and opportunities, to ensure we are aligned in growing this powerful economic sector,” Danny Twilley, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Economic and Community Development at WVU. “We could not imagine a better partner than ORR to lead the coordination of this work.”
ORR’s body of workforce research identified two primary opportunities that inspired the creation of the Consortium. First, the outdoor recreation economy lacks clearly defined workforce development strategies that cross sectors and segments. Second, limited channels exist to connect academia with the private sector at consistent intervals to address challenges and opportunities in workforce development. The Consortium will take on these opportunities by facilitating in-person convenings, collaboration, education, communications, and research on in-demand workforce needs, including development of a new outdoor career competency taxonomy that categorizes common skills across outdoor roles similar to that which exists in healthcare and finance. A new national outdoor recreation workforce survey will be distributed in the second half of 2025 to help achieve these objectives.
Inaugural members include ORR’s national trade associations and businesses across diverse segments of the outdoor recreation economy from boat and RV manufacturing to trail building, guiding and outfitting, and retail trade. The Consortium Steering Committee includes the following leading academic programs:
– Oregon State University Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy
– University of Denver Leadership in the Outdoor Recreation Industry Program
– University of Arkansas Outdoor Products and Services Certificate Program
– University of New Hampshire Department of Recreation Management and Policy
– University of Wyoming Jay Kemmerer Outdoor Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality (WORTH) Institute
– West Virginia University Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative
Prior to today’s announcement, the Consortium was incubated by Oregon State University’s Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy (CORE), which works to create outdoor workforce solutions for state and federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers and businesses large and small, and non-profit partners. ORR and WVU extend their gratitude to Oregon State University for their hard work to help bring this program to fruition.
Other participating schools include:
– Auburn University
– Alabama A&M
– Appalachian State University
– Arizona State University
– Colorado Mountain College
– Colorado State University
– Eastern Washington University
– Lees-McRae College
– Pennsylvania Western University
– University of Colorado – Boulder
– University of Montana Institute for Tourism
– University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
– Utah State University
– Western New Mexico University
– West Virginia University School of Natural Resources and the Environment
Institutions interested in joining the Consortium can reach out to ORR at cperkins@recreationroundtable.org to learn more.