Outdoor Entrepreneurship 101 Courses
At Conserving Carolina, we’re proud to support the outdoor recreation economy, which is a major economic driver for our communities. By conserving beautiful landscapes and creating parks and trails, we encourage people to come to Western North Carolina, have a great time outdoors, and grow our local economies. This fall, we are partnering with Outdoor Business Institute, which is offering classes for outdoor enthusiasts who want to turn their passion into a source of income.
Check out this video and if it feels right for you, let them know that you heard about them through Conserving Carolina. They will donate half of your course fees to support our conservation of the landscapes where so many people love to play.
The Outdoor Business Institute provided this information about their course and how you can benefit:
A Fundraising Partnership that Also Benefits You
Conserving Carolina is excited to partner with the Outdoor Business Institute to help you make extra money while also supporting the work we do here.
The OBI instructors know outdoor recreation is a real way for you to:
- Make some extra money
- Spend more time on outdoor activities you love
- Help benefit from local tourism dollars
- Shine a light on the importance of trail and public land stewardship
OBI will be leading a 4-week online course that teaches people how to design outdoor experiences for all activities and skill levels, and then shows you step-by-step how to get people interested and signing up as customers.
And from now through Oct. 16, if you sign up through Conserving Carolina, 50% of your course fee will be donated directly back to us!
As an added bonus, everyone who signs up by Oct. 16 will get a free OBI gift set that includes a versatile string backpack with zippered front pocket, a lightweight aluminum water bottle with attached carabiner, and an OBI iron-on badge.
Learn how to turn your favorite outdoor activity—such as nature photography, hiking, or flora and fauna identification—into some extra income while supporting Conserving Carolina at the same time.
How Outdoor Recreation Benefits Our Natural Spaces, Our Economy, and You
Did you know that all the people who come to North Carolina to enjoy our parks, trails, mountains, and protected lands are helping both the local economy AND regional and national conservation efforts?
State governments are starting to realize how much money is spent on outdoor recreation annually—to the tune of $887 billion nationally and $28 billion in North Carolina in 2017. You can read more about it in this recent article from the Asheville Citizen Times.
People are spending money on tours, lessons, outdoor experiences, and travel—and they’re doing so in the same places you love to explore. When there’s that much money being spent, the government suddenly starts taking greater interest in protecting those resources.
What’s the Outdoor Economy, Exactly?
You’ve probably supported it and not even realized it—or thought about how simple it can be to make money with the outdoor activities you love to do.
It’s how people support small local businesses while enjoying outdoor recreation. From outdoor yoga classes to group mountain bike rides, wildlife lectures to forest ecology hikes and nature photography walks, those are just some of the ways people are sharing their love of the outdoors with like-minded people.
The people leading those tours and classes are just like you—enthusiasts who love the outdoors and want to help protect it. They’re also part of the 260,000 jobs in outdoor recreation economy in North Carolina—the same industry that’s generated enough buzz to warrant a new office in the NC Department of Commerce!
By hosting outdoor experiences, they not only help support our local economy and benefit from local tourism, but their work also makes conservation efforts more tangible for countless of people.
