New Hampshire’s mountains, lakes, forests, and trails are not just the backdrop to the Granite State’s quality of life. They are the engine of a multibillion-dollar industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs. Yet a new report warns that the systems meant to support that outdoor economy have not kept pace with its growth, leaving money and opportunity on the table. As NH Business Review reported, the findings come from “Grounded Growth,” a report released by the Granite Outdoor Alliance that argues better coordination, not entirely new programs, is the key to unlocking the sector’s full potential.
The numbers underscore why this matters. Outdoor recreation contributes more than $4.2 billion annually to New Hampshire’s economy and supports more than 33,000 jobs statewide, the Granite Outdoor Alliance found, citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account. That places the outdoor sector among the most significant pillars of the state economy, rivaling traditional industries in its reach and its payroll. “Outdoor access, landscapes, and quality of life set New Hampshire apart and are central to its future,” the report states.
What “Grounded Growth” Found
The report was not produced in a vacuum. It was synthesized from three roundtable sessions held around the state over the past several months, drawing together 62 stakeholders from business, manufacturing, conservation, workforce development, and the public sector. Those sessions took place at recognizable New Hampshire companies whose names double as a tour of the state’s outdoor and consumer goods heritage: Adventure Ready Brands in Littleton, Badger in Gilsum, and Life is Good in Hudson. NH Business Review served as media sponsor for the series, which was supported by The Nature Conservancy.
The central diagnosis of the report is blunt. “Fragmentation is the central constraint,” the document concludes, describing a landscape in which businesses are too often left to navigate resources, programs, and partnerships on their own. The result is duplicated effort, missed connections, and slower growth than the underlying assets should produce.
Tyler Ray, the Granite Outdoor Alliance’s director and a Conway attorney who founded the industry trade group five years ago, framed the report as a starting point rather than a finished blueprint. “This report is not a final strategy, but a synthesis intended to clarify where stronger connections across industry, workforce, and policy can unlock progress,” Ray wrote in the report’s introduction. “What comes next is how we build on it.”
Familiar Granite State Challenges
While some of the obstacles identified in the roundtables were specific to the outdoor industry, many of the biggest concerns were the same structural problems that weigh on nearly every New Hampshire employer: workforce shortages, housing, child care, and transportation. “Gaps in infrastructure and housing limit growth, strain communities, and restrain opportunity,” the report says.
That overlap is significant. It means the outdoor economy is not asking for special treatment so much as it is bumping into the same affordability and capacity ceilings that constrain the broader state economy. New Hampshire’s housing crunch and the rising cost of child care have been recurring themes in our coverage, including reporting on how affordability pressures are squeezing young workers across the state. When outdoor recreation businesses cannot find workers who can afford to live near the trails, lakes, and mountains where the jobs are, the entire sector feels the strain.
Taylor Caswell, the former commissioner of the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs, participated in the roundtables and moderated one of the sessions. He distilled the report’s optimistic core message. “One of the clearest messages from Grounded Growth is that New Hampshire has the assets, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit to lead, but stronger awareness and coordination are needed to unlock the full potential of our outdoor economy,” said Caswell, who now works as a consultant for Bernstein Shur.
A Roadmap Built on Connection, Not Reinvention
One of the most striking aspects of the report is what it does not call for. Rather than recommending an expensive new bureaucracy or a sweeping set of programs built from scratch, “Grounded Growth” argues that the pieces New Hampshire needs largely already exist. “The opportunity is not to build entirely new systems, but to better connect the ones that already exist,” the report says.
Caswell echoed that framing, describing the document as a practical guide for collaboration across sectors. “The report provides a roadmap for how employers, government, academic institutions, and community partners can work together to better utilize our outdoor assets in support of the state’s economy,” he said. The four themes that emerged from the roundtables center on alignment: connecting workforce pipelines to employers, linking conservation goals to economic development, and helping small businesses tap resources they may not know exist.
That message lands at a moment when New Hampshire’s economy is sending mixed signals. Even as headline growth figures look strong, many workers feel they are falling behind on cost of living, a tension explored in our reporting on how New Hampshire’s economy can look strong while workers lose ground. An outdoor sector that grows more efficiently could help broaden prosperity beyond the state’s traditional economic centers and into the rural communities where outdoor recreation is often the dominant industry.
The Stakes for Rural New Hampshire
The outdoor economy is not evenly distributed across the state. Its center of gravity lies in the North Country, the Lakes Region, the Monadnock region, and the White Mountains, areas where manufacturing of outdoor gear, guiding and outfitting services, lodging, restaurants, and retail all depend on a steady flow of residents and visitors who want to be outside. Events like Laconia Motorcycle Week demonstrate how a single recreation-driven gathering can ripple through local economies, a dynamic we examined in our coverage of the 103rd Laconia Motorcycle Week and its tourism impact. For these communities, the difference between a coordinated outdoor economy and a fragmented one can determine whether young families stay, whether main streets thrive, and whether seasonal businesses can become year-round employers.
The Granite Outdoor Alliance is betting that visibility leads to momentum. “Grounded Growth” was formally released at Outdoor Industry Day 2026, an event the alliance billed as “The Barn Raiser,” held at The Barn on the Pemi in Plymouth. The choice of name is fitting for a report that argues New Hampshire’s outdoor future will be built the way barns once were, by neighbors and institutions pooling their effort toward a structure none could raise alone.
Whether the report’s recommendations translate into action will depend on follow-through from the businesses, agencies, and academic institutions that took part. But with $4.2 billion and 33,000 jobs already riding on the state’s outdoor assets, the stakes of getting the coordination right are considerable, and the potential upside, the report suggests, is well within reach.
For related coverage, see our reporting on $9.3 Million in Federal Grants Lands in Rural New Hampshire.
