Yes! At the PA Wilds Center, we set an organization-wide goal to “Build an entrepreneurial ecosystem tied to the region’s lifestyle brand and public lands that moves $4 million annually in local products and services and helps rural businesses and communities to thrive.”
This is a multi-phase plan that started with establishing a commerce platform (PA Wilds Conservation Shop) that can move PA Wilds Made products. We purchase shop inventory from producers in the Wilds Cooperative of PA and Since 2016, the PA Wilds Conservation Shop has invested more than $300 thousand on locally produced products to resell online and at our physical gift shop at Kinzua Bridge State Park. Our next phases include expanding the PA Wilds Conservation Shop’s retail footprint, as well as connecting more makers to business to business opportunities as well as markets outside of the PA Wilds region. As we continue to grow these opportunities we look to expand professional development so that our makers can scale their businesses too.
Read more about it in our Strategic Plan here. This goal falls under the heading of “DELIVER” which begins on page 22.
