The Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area (SRG) has been delivering successful outdoor recreation and education programs on the Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill River Trail for decades. Paddling, hiking, biking and youth engagement programs have been some of the hallmarks in conveying the organization’s mission to residents, communities, and visitors. One of the main ingredients needed to make these programs and events happen is a viable local outfitter to partner with to support the recreational components.
While outdoor recreation has blossomed in the region over the last decade, the river and trail corridor has not seen recreation focused outfitters succeed at the same rate. Over the years, outfitters along the Schuylkill have experienced varying degrees of success in gaining a foothold and maintaining stability. Although outfitters have existed for decades on adjacent waterways like the Lehigh and Delaware, the Schuylkill has not been as fortunate.
In 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, SRG’s most reliable recreational partner closed its doors. Left with very few options and in need of support for annual events and programs, the SRG embarked on a project to establish a new unique partnership that would not only support and benefit our programming, but also the broader community and region as well as other partners along the Schuylkill.
During this presentation participants will hear how SRG leveraged an existing partnership and used a little creativity to create a regional, multi-focused outfitter. This session will look at the formation of Take It Outdoors, LLC, a non profit outfitter and how the collaboration between the two organizations is expanding the SRG’s capacity for recreational programming and its reach to diverse populations and new constituents locally and beyond.
