OUTDOOR RETAILER PRIMED FOR COLORADO DEBUT.

• Author: Kailus, Julie
• Position: OUTDOORRETAILER

Denver's landing of Outdoor Retailer, the world's leading business-to-business outdoor sports show, was a coup for Colorado at Utah's expense.

Outdoor Retailer resided in Salt Lake City for the last 20 years; its abrupt departure from Utah was contentious. Utah officials lobbied for scaling back Obama-designated Bears Ears National Monument, which the Trump administration now plans to reduce by 85 percent. In response, leaders at major outdoor brands including Black Diamond and Patagonia seized the moment to elevate the importance of protecting wild places, long considered the lifeblood of the industry. That included calling for a boycott of OR's host state.

Colorado jumped at the opportunity, putting together a proposal in just 18 months. "When other CEOs were writing op-eds and saying Denver is where the show needed to go, the industry saw us as the place to have a collective conversation," says Luis Benitez, head of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office. "We were ready to put our best foot forward, and Colorado and Denver rose to the top of the short list fast. Other states had the space, but we had it from a demographics and culture standpoint."

OR events, owned by Emerald Expositions, consist of trade shows in January, July and November--all at the Colorado Convention Center--and are expected to bring $110 million to Denver's economy. Starting this month, winter OR will merge with the Denver's existing Snow Show, which OR purchased from the SnowSports Industries America. The events are for retailers, importers/distributors, designers, nonprofits, media sales and manufacturers not exhibiting.

"Not only will Colorado be in the national spotlight because of the shows, but over 85,000 retailers, brands and media will descend upon Denver," says Marisa Nicholson, vice president and show director of all OR events.

The outdoor industry represents $887 billion in consumer spending and 7.6 million American jobs. In Colorado alone, the recreation economy is $28 billion, with 289,000 direct jobs, $9.7 billion in wages and salaries and $2 billion in state and local tax revenue, according to Boulder-based Outdoor Industry Association, which will partner with Emerald to produce the Denver shows for at least the next five years.

Sam Bailey, vice president of economic development for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., sees Denver as a natural fit for outdoor companies to gather. He cites local depth of knowledge, thought-leadership...