Updates from the NM Outdoor Recreation Division
- December 1, 2021 8:20 pm·
The U.S. Economic Development Administration announced last week that it awarded $1.985 million to the Outdoor Recreation Division to supercharge the state’s outdoor recreation economy. The outdoor recreation funds are part of $7.9 million awarded to New Mexico to accelerate travel, tourism. and outdoor recreation. ORD will oversee 25 percent of this federal stimulus funding, targeting it to specific outdoor recreation economy recovery efforts. The remainder will be administered by the state Tourism Department. The EDA funds come at an opportune time. The outdoor recreation economy, which was growing at the second fastest rate in the U.S. in 2019, was hit hard by the economic crisis caused by Covid-19. In 2020, the outdoor economy in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia experienced a drop in its outdoor economy, according to recently released data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis [3]. In New Mexico, employment dropped 21.9% in 2020, though 2021 is already exhibiting signs of strong growth [4], especially in key activities like RVing, boating and fishing, ATVing, and bicycling. The $1.9 million enables ORD to provide crucial marketing, branding, and other business support to the companies and communities that suffered the most during the pandemic. Our grant application to EDA proposed dividing the funding into two major categories: community and business support. Both impact areas are designed to build off one another, raising the profile of New Mexico’s outdoor recreation economy, then complementing that higher profile with technical assistance for businesses to gain the professional skills needed to capitalize on that…