By Chase Anderson | July 22, 2019
Chase Anderson speaks with panel on workforce issues in OPDD
Chase Anderson, Program Coordinator for OPDD, speaks on workforce issues

Staff from Utah State University’s Outdoor Product Design and Development program spoke alongside representatives from Weber State’s Outdoor Recreation Education program and the Business Resource Center from Salt Lake Community College as part of a panel hosted by the newly formed Utah Outdoor Association (UOA).

Leaders from Utah’s higher education outdoor programs discussed opportunities to create pipelines of talent from the various university and college programs into outdoor brands and organizations. The goal of creating industry pathways would increase continuing education opportunities for brands by returning knowledge to Utah’s campuses.

The importance of collaboration and conversation at events like the UOA Summit was emphasized as the first step to training a more highly skilled and custom fit workforce for the needs of the outdoor industry in Utah.

Guide the outdoor industry forward by fostering productive dialogue between organizations, providing an invaluable network of people and resources, and promoting the industry to the public.

Utah Outdoor Association

In fact, the mission of the Utah Outdoor Association states: "Guide the outdoor industry forward by fostering productive dialogue between organizations, providing an invaluable network of people and resources, and promoting the industry to the public."

Educational opportunities like USU’s OPDD program seek to train the next generation of product designers who will go on to create value within brands by building new and more sustainable products that grow Utah’s outdoor economy.

To learn more about the Utah Outdoor Association visit their website.

Industry collaborations made possible through the Manufacturing and Outdoor Products Support Hub, a partnership between Utah Manufacturing Extension Service and Outdoor Product Design & Development.