The Outdoor Business Alliance of Pennsylvania (OBA PA), a statewide network implementing a business growth plan shaped by more than 1,000 Pennsylvania companies and industry leaders, will focus on four core priorities, Gov. Josh Shapiro recently said at a REI store in Mechanicsburg.
The priorities are to provide rural and urban outdoor small-business startups with resources, technical assistance and training; provide job matching programs and regional events that connect employers and workers; establish an outdoor business grant program and an outdoor funders network to help entrepreneurs scale; and host statewide and national events to connect businesses, investors and industry leaders.
“We’re made up of over 25 million members who share a love for life outside,” Mary Beth Laughton, REI president and CEO, said. “For more than 85 years, our mission has been to inspire and enable a life outside for everyone. And that’s definitely not just a tagline. It is how we live, how we connect, and how we protect the places that make that possible. And here in Pennsylvania, that mission is thriving.”
REI sells products from more than a dozen Pennsylvania-based companies. It employs nearly 800 people statewide in four stores and a Bedford distribution center.