BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Andy Davis, Director of Strategic Development with the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, will be representing West Virginia and the New River Gorge Region at the Outdoor Reaction Roundtable’s first-ever National Leadership Forum on Rural Development.
The event will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and will take place October 1-2.
“In recent years, we have seen a shift within the federal government in the prioritization of rural development roadblocks. This has opened new doors for outdoor recreation to be an integral component of rural economic revitalization strategies,” said Andy Davis. “Many of the organizations attending the ORR event have already been involved in West Virginia either directly through the work of NRGRDA or through our local partner network. I look forward to learning more about their development successes and struggles in rural areas across the country.”
The Outdoor Reaction Roundtable will be bringing together leaders and organizations from across the nation to better identify priorities in funding, organization principles, and local strategies to work toward rural economic development as pertaining to outdoor recreation.
The forum will be hosting speakers from a number of agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Appalachian Community Capital, Economic Recovery Corps, Housing Assistance Council, and many more.
The Outdoor Reaction Roundtable continues efforts to convene leaders in industry as a means of promoting thought-leadership and inspiration across multiple sectors. Recreation businesses, NGOs, CDFIs, rural practitioners, state and federal agencies, industries partners, and academics will be among the leaders being brought together by the ORR with support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
