Colorado outdoor office maps collective voice

Colorado is upping its game when it comes to promotion of the outdoor industry, which generates $4.2 billion in wages and salaries for the state.

Gov. John Hickenlooper created the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office in June, appointing Luis Guillermo Benitez as its first director. Some viewed the move as a response to other states attempts to steal some of Colorado’s thunder — and companies — with aggressive economic-development efforts aimed at the industry.

Benitez said that, as big as the industry is in…