Sep. 6—Tom Sawyer said his family's fishing shop got a significant boost from the COVID-19 pandemic when many more people were at home.
"People got tired of being cooped up at home and decided the outdoors was the next best option," Sawyer, the store manager of Los Pinos Fly & Tackle Shop, said. "We're hoping that those new people tell their friends and that it continues to grow."
Sawyer's family business is one of many in the outdoor recreation economy in New Mexico, ranging from manufacturers to outfitters and guides. Some of those businesses, according to a new survey from the state's Outdoor Recreation Division, are expecting to grow.
The first-of-its-kind survey — done in partnership with endeavOR New Mexico, an outdoor recreation business alliance — collected more than 100 responses from businesses across New Mexico.
The survey, most notably, showed that about 68.6% of respondents expected growth over the next three years, about 27.6% of business reported that they expected to remain the same and another 3.8% said they expected some decline.
AJ Jones, deputy director for ORD, said businesses' response to expected growth "really speaks to how the outdoor recreation industry is doing as a whole," noting that federal data released last year for 2022 supports that assertion.
The data, released by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, showed that in 2022 the state's outdoor recreation economy accounted for $2.4 billion, or nearly 2%, of the state's overall GDP. Employment grew by 7% to roughly 28,000 workers.
The survey also asked how businesses reach customers, which about 90.5% said they do through social media, and what assistance they need to succeed, which many said is access to funding and marketing.
Jones said the division had received one-time federal dollars through American Rescue Plan Act for an outdoor marketing grant that gave $873,872 to 41 New Mexico organizations earlier this year. But she said, because businesses' have expressed the need for additional marketing support, the division will need "regular funding funneled into the program" in the coming years.
She said the division will aim to turn the marketing effort into a revolving, yearly grant program. In the meantime, ORD will focus on bolstering the division's Outdoor Equity Fund, which provides money for areas such as educational and recreational services, billed labor and materials like equipment and supplies.
According to Karina Armijo, the division's director, nearly $3.7 million was distributed to 68 organizations through the Outdoor Equity Fund this year.