GROUNDED GROWTH

BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE SERIES BY GOA

GROUNDED GROWTH

Creating a Resilient Outdoor Economy in a Changing Business Climate

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

The Grounded Growth series brings together New Hampshire’s outdoor, manufacturing, and sustainability leaders to explore how the state can build a resilient outdoor economy that adapts to shifting markets, climate change, and workforce demands.

Each session pairs a factory tour with an invite-only roundtable, creating space for hands-on learning, peer exchange, and forward-looking strategies that keep New Hampshire’s growth rooted in both community and conservation.

Insights from these sessions will inform a public report by GOA outlining recommendations to guide future strategy, partnerships, and programming across the state’s outdoor economy.

SESSION ONE

The Future of Work & Innovation in NH’s Outdoor Industry

January 21, 2026 | Littleton, NH | Adventure Ready Brands

Overview:  The outdoor industry faces two connected challenges: workforce shortages and business disruptors. This session focuses on how New Hampshire businesses are innovating for stability and growth—from modernizing production and building workforce pipelines to advancing sustainable practices that attract and retain talent.

Focus Topics:

  • Building skilled labor pipelines for outdoor manufacturing and recreation

  • Training and career pathways in sustainability and climate adaptation

  • Partnerships between education, business, and workforce boards

  • Business-led climate resilience: energy, materials, operations innovation

Audience Mix:

Employers • Educators • Workforce developers • Nonprofits • Sustainability and Community Partners

Goal:

Develop actionable ideas and partnerships to ensure a stable, skilled, and sustainability-minded workforce for NH’s future outdoor economy.

Joe Klementovich Photos

OUTCOMES

Building the Future of NH’s Outdoor Economy 

Outdoor manufacturers and recreation leaders align on CTE pathways, talent attraction, and community engagement. 

The inaugural session of Grounded Growth, hosted at Adventure Ready Brands in Littleton, convened more than 20 members and partners for a candid, solutions-oriented conversation. The discussion was facilitated by Chuck Lloyd of CCSNH and moderated by Mike Cote of NH Business Review. 

While housing and affordability remain persistent challenges, the conversation quickly moved upstream to deeper workforce system needs. Key themes included strengthening Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways, improving brand and lifestyle storytelling to attract talent, and leveraging community engagement and volunteerism as workforce on-ramps into the outdoor sector. 

The Grounded Growth series continues in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and New Hampshire Business Review, with upcoming sessions planned in Cheshire and Hillsborough counties. Granite Outdoor Alliance will synthesize insights from across the series into both near-term actions and longer-term, system-building recommendations, to be released in a forthcoming Grounded Growth report.