Group revitalizes Active Boulder

Boulder loves to eat well, drink well and play well.  The passions have made the area a mecca for the natural-foods industry, the craft-brewing industry and the outdoor recreation industry.

With a goal to pump up the outdoor-recreation attraction, a group of local business people created Active Boulder in 2005.  After a hiatus following the death of one of the group’s founder’s, Leslie Bohm, the grass-roots program is gathering steam to move forward with its initial intention.

Active Boulder is a trade association of companies, organizations and individuals that promotes the growth and success of the outdoor, recreation and fitness industries in Boulder.

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“A lot of businesses, like Lafuma, Spyder and SCARPA, are landing here in Boulder,” said Gary Gomulinski, chairman of the Active Boulder board.  “One of our missions is to promote more of that and to help Boulder create more incentives for them to come here.

“There are 300 miles of trails within walking distance of downtown Boulder – it’s a great place to live, and if you’re looking for employees in the industry, you look here.”

Active Boulder is focusing on three areas: creating a common voice for locals in the industry, advocating for the industry and collaborating with other organizations in the industry.

Creating a common voice will include creating incentives for businesses to move here and building a connection between individuals and companies already here.

“A lot of people in the industry know each other but only see each other at large trade shows.  They make plans to get together when they get back to Boulder but get buried in their work, and nothing ever moves forward,” Gomulinski said.  “We want to find out how to leverage that.”

As an advocacy group, Active Boulder will focus on promoting outdoor-recreation companies that are already here and to funnel information to other advocacy groups in Boulder such as Open Boulder and Boulder Mountainbike Alliance.

To fulfill its collaboration mission, Active Boulder plans to build an education series that could offer classes to teach business skills for people in the outdoor-recreation industry.

The group has also met with the new director of the newly formed Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, Luis Guillermo Benitez.  “We met with him so he knows we’re here,” Gomulinski said. 

“We’re working with his listening sessions by putting together a schedule for Boulder on Sept. 9, 5 to 8 p.m. at Chautauqua Community House.

“The focus is to come meet Luis in person and tell him what you need from the state and what’s potentially holding back the growth of your company.”

Active Boulder sponsored an event — Rock the Trails – following the 2013 floods to help with damage to trails, parks and waterways.  “A lot of companies needed access to those things to keep going,” he said.

The $100,000 raised helped organizations such as the Evergreen Recreation and Park Foundation and Mile High Youth Corps get a jumpstart on the cleanup efforts.