New OREC leader hits the water paddling

DENVER —  Nathan Fey, who was hired to serve as Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office’s second-in-command in March, didn’t have to wait long for his opportunity to take over leadership of the office.

Former office director Luis Benitez announced just days after Fey started that he would be leaving state government for a position with VF Corp. Fey was soon tapped to serve as the acting director of Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office — which is known as OREC and operates out the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade — and took over the position full time in May.

“I’m new to the director’s seat, but I’m not new to the office,” Fey said in a recent interview with BizWest. “I’ve been an advisor since we formed the office under the [former Gov. John] Hickenlooper administration in 2015.”

Fey, an avid kayaker and former fly-fishing instructor, has worked in the outdoor industry for 20 years, including 12 years as regional director of the Colorado River Stewardship Program at American Whitewater, where he was responsible for program development, fundraising, grant writing and growing the network of affiliates from four regional paddling clubs to more than 20. He also served as a public policy adviser for Berbur LLC, where he co-created the governance structure for the Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation industry, including Member Pledge, Regional Partnership Guidelines and the Advisory Council protocol.

Fey got his start in the outdoors long before his roles with American Whitewater or OREC.

“I’m a sixth-generation native of Colorado, and I spent a lot of time with my parents and grandparents exploring the state’s backcountry as a kid,” he said, “A consistent theme of my life has been rivers. Whether that’s rafting with my family or fly fishing, it was the waterways that drew me into the outdoor recreation space.”

Throughout Fey’s career, he has worked “to improve public access and the ability of residents and visitors to experience [outdoor recreation opportunities] firsthand.”

Colorado is chock-full of fellow lovers of the outdoors, which helps to make the state particularly fertile ground for the recreation industry.

OREC is a “resource at the governor’s office and a central point of contact for the [outdoor recreation] industry as a whole,” Fey said. “That includes the manufacturing space, public lands and public waters management space, and education and workforce partners.”

The office’s primary goal is fostering economic development within the $62.5 billion Colorado outdoor recreation industry.

“We’re unique in how we approach economic development because we view our initiatives through the lens of conservation and stewardship of public lands and waters, and through the lens of improving health, wellness and public safety,” Fey said.

The outdoor industry is distinctive in the sense that it relies on continued access to healthy waterways, mountains and green spaces in order to thrive. The industry simply couldn’t succeed if it relied on business practices or manufacturing methods that pollute or degrade natural environments to the point that those environments could no longer be used for recreation.

Environmental sustainability and economic development “aren’t necessarily at odds, especially in the outdoor recreation industry,” Fey said.

“The companies and the manufacturers that call Colorado home identify with our Colorado brand of conservation and stewardship,” he said. “One of the reasons these companies are here is because we hold half of the state in public trusts so we can continue to have these resources and attributes that people enjoy.”

Part of the overall economic development picture also involves “securing a talent pipeline through our education and workforce development initiatives,” he said.

Like all industries operating in this historically tight labor market, outdoor recreation employers are keenly aware of the need to build a qualified and diverse workforce.

“Our focus right now is on developing advanced skill sets through our partners in higher education,” Fey said. “… Businesses that are here in Colorado or are looking to relocate to Colorado need to have access to a homegrown talent pipeline.”

Local educational institutions offer some unique opportunities for students interested in the outdoor industry. Fey cited the University of Colorado’s Masters of the Environment program as an example.

OREC “supports that program by pairing rural communities with resources from this office and from the university — in the form of graduate students — to help the communities develop a plan for diversifying their economic structures,” he said.

Fey also pointed to Colorado State University’s adventure tourism classes as an example of how the state is working to set students up for future success in the industry.

Colorado companies excel “at making themselves available for internships and real-world experiences [for students],” Fey said. Those firms “introduce them to real-world examples of how to take their education and turn it into something tangible and marketable.”

In addition to improving companies’ access to a qualified workforce, the industry is also working to make itself more accessible to employees from a wide range of backgrounds.

“We’re very much interested in improving diversity by geography, by cultural background,” Fey said. “We want to make sure opportunities are available to the full spectrum of interests.”

It’s an exciting time to be part of Colorado’s outdoor industry, he said.

“Numbers always tell a really strong story. In the last five years, the outdoor recreation and technology sector has doubled. We’re sitting at 10 percent of our state GDP and employing over a half-million people,” Fey said.

High-profile recent industry developments include the relocation of the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow and conference from Utah to Denver and the move of VF Corp.’s headquarters from North Carolina to the Mile High City.

While those flashy moves are important, “the really exciting thing to me has been supporting the startup businesses that are coming out in Colorado,” Fey said. “We have such a wealth of public lands and such a wealth of outdoor enthusiasts. Because of the time Coloradans spend playing in the backcountry, they’re able to find solutions to problems they encounter — those solutions become innovative products and companies.”

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