Outdoor Recreation Community Economic Prosperity and Resilience Toolkit
The purpose of this project is to identify and engage a consultant to research and develop a best practices and case study toolkit for communities to help them capture more Outdoor Recreation Industry economic opportunities and investment, including capital and base jobs, and identify risk and resiliency strategies to improve long-term prosperity. The selected consultant will engage industry leaders and key stakeholders through an Outdoor Recreation Advisory Council, review existing information and research, identify additional resources and develop a toolkit with case studies and recommended best practices to improve intentionality and community focus on realizing economic growth and improving resiliency in the outdoor recreation sector.
Project Background
Building on the success of the Redevelopment Ready Communities® (RRC) and Community Resiliency voluntary technical assistance initiatives offered through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), this toolkit is intended to empower communities in shaping their future by building a strong foundation of investment, planning, zoning, and economic development best practices specifically targeting the $1 trillion national outdoor recreation economy.
The toolkit, developed by experts in the public and private sectors, will encourage communities to align development practices with the goal of attracting more high wage, high skill, year-round outdoor industry employment into their local economy, such as outdoor product development and advanced manufacturing; and address vulnerabilities in currently tourism-dependent recreation communities like those impacted by the low snow winter in 2024 and devastating spring ice storm in 2025. Regional leaders have identified this as a sector of opportunity and seek to better identify, measure, grow and attract outdoor industry investments to their regions; support entrepreneurs and the creation of new outdoor companies; and leverage and connect local capabilities and strengths in manufacturing, engineering, and design.
More Details:
- Project Lenght/Timeline: 18 months
- Budget/Range: $65,000 – $90,000
- Vendors interested in bidding on this project are directed to review MEDC needs reflected above and provide a proposal via email to [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on July 16, 2025.