The Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP), an incubator led by the University of Arkansas' Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI), has received a $1.2 million statewide grant from the U.S. Economic Development Agency Get expansion.
The aim is to promote entrepreneurs who develop innovative products and services in the outdoor recreation industry.
The grant, complemented by $1 million in additional funding from the state of Arkansas, will allow GORP to focus on four key areas of Arkansas recently designated as Outdoor Recreation Opportunity Zones: Queen Wilhelmina State Park (Mena), Petit Jean State Park (Morrilton), Pinnacle Mountain State Park (Roland) and the Delta Heritage Trail State Park (West Helena).
The new GORP ARound the State program will support entrepreneurs in these communities by providing expert business development workshops, industry events and experienced mentors. GORP will also partner with the University of Arkansas School of Law to offer entrepreneurial law sessions to assist founders with operating agreements and other business formation documents.
“The EDA grant is important evidence that an industry-specific approach to business development can attract follow-on funding from the federal government and expand across the state,” said Sarah Goforth, executive director of the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which oversees GORP.
“We are excited to expand what we have learned through GORP across the country in collaboration with universities and other organizations in these regions.”
Led by Phil Shellhammer, OEI Senior Director of Business Incubation, GORP has had an immediate impact on Northwest Arkansas' thriving outdoor economy. As part of its semi-annual cohort program, 25 startups have launched and expanded their businesses. GORP has also supported more than 300 entrepreneurs through its à la carte services, which include workshops, networking events, one-on-one consulting and access to co-working spaces. GORP is housed at The Collaborative, the U of A's education and research center in Bentonville.
“People associate outdoor recreation with fun – and it is. But as an industry, it also accounts for 2% of Arkansas’ GDP and creates more than 40,000 jobs,” Shellhammer said. “This grant and the generous support of the State of Arkansas will allow us to double down on that strength and bring high-paying jobs, visibility and tourism dollars to the state, which will have a major impact on families and communities.” OEI launched its business incubation division in 2021 and focused on three sectors with outsized economic importance: outdoor recreation, healthcare and new technologies. GORP was the opening program.
“GORP plays a critical role in our mission to grow the state’s outdoor recreation economy, and this grant furthers that mission,” said Katherine Andrews, director of the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation. “The Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation continues to support our community partners and the outdoor recreation industry. As GORP grows and our Arkansas outdoor recreation economy continues to grow rapidly, we look forward to continuing to serve our entrepreneurs and existing business owners and are excited to partner with the University of Arkansas on this endeavor.”
GORP was followed in spring 2022 by the Northwest Arkansas BioDesign Sprints Program, a collaboration between OEI, the U of A Department of Biomedical Engineering, HealthTech Arkansas and several Arkansas healthcare institutions addressing issues in the healthcare industry. In its first year, the BioDesign program has produced 11 novel innovations and three provisional medical device patents, all developed by student-clinical teams and now moving toward commercialization.
The third program, Bounds, launched earlier this year in collaboration with Cartwheel Studio. Funded by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the Bounds Accelerator focuses on the intersection of emerging technology and retail.
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