Organization Highlight: Outdoor Industry Association

What?

The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is “a membership-driven trade organization for the outdoor industry.”- The OIA. Founded in 1989, this association acts as a voice for the outdoor community.  The OIA was originally made up of 14 various leaders in the outdoor industry including North Face, Patagonia, REI Co-op, Du Pont as well as several others. From this, the main goal is to help achieve a change in overall recreation, trade policy as well as make businesses more sustainable for years to come. Since 1989, OIA has grown tremendously and has over 200 member organizations.

Each year the OIA publishes an annual report that is available to the public. Due to this, the OIA is currently the only source of metric data for the outdoor industry. The annual report highlights everything consumers and businesses need to know for the outdoor industry. “Outdoor recreation is an economic powerhouse in the United States, each year generating $778 billion in consumer spending and 7.6 million direct jobs” - OIA website.  The OIA helps create jobs for millions of people by increasing outdoor participation. By acting as the voice for the outdoor industry, businesses are able to thrive in more sustainable ways. Going off of that, people are able to be exposed to outdoor recreational activities due to the increase in awareness and environmental changes that take place every year.

Why does the OIA Matter?

OIA is a nonprofit organization that “provides advocacy, representation, promotion, leadership and the opportunity for the outdoor recreational industries to unite with a single common voice.” - The OIA. The OIA is a donation-based organization that does not make a profit off of what they do. The purpose of the OIA is to help the environment in ways that will benefit those for years to come. Without the OIA, business would not be as sustainable and laws would not be put in place to help protect the environment. As previously stated above, the OIA helps create millions of jobs due to recreational activity generating billions of dollars each year.

Want to get involved?

Head on over to the OIA website and submit the form under the "Join” tab. If accepted, your company will have access to an abundance of resources that will allow your company to be educated and connected to others who share the same passion. If you do not want to become a member but still want to be involved, you can donate to the OIA directly through their website. All donations directly benefit getting people outside and back to doing what they love.

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