OIA Education Recap
Outdoor Retailer Summer
OIA INDUSTRY BREAKFAST: The Thriving Future of Retail
Keynote Speaker: Doug Stephens, Retail Prophet
Key Takeaways:
1. The pandemic didn’t just cause an acceleration of trends that would have transpired anyway. It’s a once in a century event that has propelled society in general and retail in particular, out of the industrial age and into the digital era.
2. Purpose is the new positioning. In order to thrive in the new era, retailers have to become the unchallenged answer to a specific consumer question. In other words, if your brand is the answer, what’s the question?
3. In the post-pandemic era, every retailer will have to dominate in one of four competitive quadrants; Culture, Entertainment, Expertise or Product. Anything less than domination in one of these quadrants leaves a brand open to disruption from rapidly growing product and service ecosystems like Amazon’s.
4. Omni-channel isn’t a strategy, it’s an outcome. Better to think of it this way. Every piece of media you present in the market should act like a store and every store should act like media. In the future, media will become the cost of sales and physical stores will be the cost of customer acquisition.
5. Futurism isn’t about predicting the future you get. It’s about engineering the future you want.
Thriving Planet and People: Confronting Threats to the Outdoors
Speakers:
Lise Aangeenbrug – Executive Director, Outdoor Industry Association
Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO-02) – Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
Key Takeaways:
1. For the outdoors to thrive, it must be open and accessible to all.
2. The American Jobs Plan is a historic opportunity to make a difference on climate – now is the time for the outdoor industry to step up and urge Congress to act.
3. A Civilian Climate Corps will provide jobs and economic growth AND combat climate change and conserve green spaces for generations to come.
4. As outdoor climate policy priorities take center stage, your business voice matters. Attend our September 13 webinar: Budget Reconciliation, Climate and You.
Thriving People: Public-Private Partnerships for Healthy Youth and Strong Communities
Speakers:
Stephanie Maez – Managing Director, The Outdoor Foundation
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser
Key Takeaways:
1. Through the Healthy Youth, Strong Communities Fund and other initiatives Colorado is making headway on building unique public/private partnerships in service to mental health, juvenile justice, and the transformative benefits of the outdoors.
2. We have an opportunity to learn from this model and incorporate elements of it in other states and with other potential nontraditional partnerships.
3. The judicial system and the public sector have an important role to play when it comes to addressing equity barriers to the outdoors for underserved communities and opportunity youth. We must proactively engage policymakers and government administrators to identify opportunities for partnership in programs and overarching systems change work.
4. The Outdoor Foundation’s Thrive Outside Initiative awards multi-year, capacity-building grants to diverse communities to build and strengthen networks that provide children and families with repeat and reinforcing experiences in the outdoors. To get involved with the program, contact us. You can also donate directly.
Thriving Business: Tariff Relief for Outdoor Companies: How the New Trade Legislation Can Help Your Bottom Line
Speakers:
Richard W. Harper, Jr., Director of Government Affairs, Outdoor Industry Association
Ron Sorini, Principal, Samet, Sorini & Associates
Patrick Fox, Senior Director of Customs and Trade Strategy, VF Corporation
Key Takeaway:
1. Passage of miscellaneous tariffs bills and Generalized System of Preferences will help lower costs for OIA members, particularly on footwear and travel goods.
2. China tariffs will likely remain for the foreseeable future – there is a chance that stakeholders will have another opportunity to make the case that certain products will be exempt from the tariffs.
3. OIA is working on legislation to add footwear to the GSP program which will provide additional duty savings to outdoor companies looking to diversify their sourcing options
4. Get support. Sorini, Samet and Associates offers OIA members exclusive opportunities to learn about trade policy and strategies for navigating the trade environment. Learn more.
Thriving Business – Workforce Trends in the Post-Pandemic Era
Thursday, August 12, 2021, 11:00 a.m. (MT)
Location: Colorado Convention Center, MR 400’s
Moderator: Jacob Fisher – Development and Program Coordinator, Outdoor Foundation
Speakers:
Les Duncan – Senior Director of Programs, Outdoor Outreach
Kristen Freaney – Founder, Path to Peak
Hannah Malvin – Project Manager, The Bridge Project
Meredith Morrice – Director of Industry Engagement, Oregon State University – Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy
Lauren Guthrie – Vice President of Global Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Action at VF Corporation
Key Takeaways:
1. The pandemic has completely reshaped how we engage with work. This moment has also given us an opportunity to build an equitable outdoor industry workforce, rather than fall into the knee-jerk reaction to get “back to normal.”
2. In order to cultivate a diverse career pipeline, the outdoor industry must partner with nonprofit and community-based organizations.
3. We can reshape our approach to recruiting, hiring, promotion and retention by focusing less on years of experience or technical skills and more on the soft skills needed, such as cultural competency, community engagement, emotional intelligence and adaptability.
4. We can’t change what we don’t measure. Data is critical to understanding the outdoor industry’s changing work landscape post-covid. Participate in the Outdoor Industry Workforce Assessment Survey, a critical research effort to gather information about industry needs for workforce development and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) advancement.
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