{"id":2240,"date":"2016-04-04T03:08:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T10:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/?p=2240"},"modified":"2016-04-04T00:18:21","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T07:18:21","slug":"how-premium-outdoor-recreation-increases-employment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/featured\/how-premium-outdoor-recreation-increases-employment\/","title":{"rendered":"How Premium Outdoor Recreation Increases Employment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Knowledge<\/p>\n

As you know, our\u00a0mission to\u00a0improve your health by encouraging you to\u00a0explore the outdoors, but the benefits of getting outdoors don’t end there. \u00a0The way your community supplies local outdoor recreation opportunities can lead to a marked improvement in your community’s employment situation. \u00a0The key here is knowledge workers.<\/p>\n

What is a Knowledge Worker?<\/h1>\n

Back in 1969 Peter Drucker, writing in The Age of Discontinuity<\/em><\/a>, coined the term ‘knowledge worker’ \u00a0to further his view that new industries will be using fewer manual workers and more workers that primarily use knowledge to produce value. \u00a0These workers might include\u00a0physicians,\u00a0pharmacists,\u00a0architects,\u00a0engineers,\u00a0scientists, public\u00a0accountants,\u00a0lawyers, and\u00a0academics, whose job is to “think for a living”.\u00a0\u00a0 For the most part these occupations are tied to a specific place where these workers can ply their trade for the benefit of a, generally, \u00a0local market.<\/p>\n

\"KnowledgeIn a broader sense, \u00a0these workers acquire knowledge then write, analyze\u00a0and\u00a0advise while capturing, organizing and providing access to their knowledge. \u00a0The occupations mentioned above all acquire a base of knowledge in academia, then apply that knowledge to new situations to create value for their patients or clients.<\/p>\n

There are other knowledge worker occupations that don’t depend upon being close to their primary markets. \u00a0They include authors, marketers, inventors, artists, film makers, software developers and many more. \u00a0To the extent that these individuals operate as entrepreneurs, \u00a0they can live wherever they wish. \u00a0To the extent they work within corporate structures, \u00a0they typically\u00a0live where corporations that need their expertise are located.<\/p>\n

Dropping the Unemployment Rate<\/h1>\n

We often hear that we need more jobs to drop the unemployment rate. \u00a0That then translates into trying to draw new\u00a0businesses to a community. \u00a0If successful, \u00a0this approach will lead to hiring local people if the local people have the skills the business needs. \u00a0To some extent, businesses look for communities that offer pleasant surroundings for their employees, so they can attract the best workers to their operation. \u00a0Premium outdoor recreation opportunities go a long way in drawing the interest of these types of businesses.<\/p>\n

\"BicycleGetting\u00a0more jobs by attracting\u00a0new businesses is\u00a0not the only way\u00a0to drop the unemployment rate. \u00a0Individual, entrepreneurial, knowledge workers can be drawn into or developed within a community\u00a0giving these people an occupation outside of the typical job market. \u00a0These are the people that can live anywhere, but come to or stay in a particular place because it offers them the style of living they desire. \u00a0More and more, \u00a0that style of living is based upon outdoor recreation.<\/p>\n

It’s much easier for\u00a0an individual to relocate to a place with outstanding recreational opportunities that it is for a large corporation. \u00a0Once settled, \u00a0these entrepreneurs can build their businesses and ultimately hire workers who are already living in the area and the local economy improves.<\/p>\n

Enhancing Outdoor Recreation Opportunities<\/h1>\n
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“Information about the economic benefits of parks and open space has burgeoned over the last\n20 years. Hardly a week goes by without the appearance of a new academic study or news story illustrating these benefits. It is now widely understood that parks, greenways, and natural lands can boost property values, attract and support businesses, save energy and water-treatment costs, and safeguard the natural systems on which our economic well-being depends.”<\/p>\n

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\u00a0– Conservation:\u00a0An Investment That Pays<\/a>,<\/em> The Trust for Public Lands, 2009<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Does this approach work? \u00a0Ralph Heath writing in The La Crosse<\/em> (Wisconsin) Tribune<\/em> said: “Outdoor recreation is an essential reason for our record low unemployment rates, attracting those who enjoy challenges at play and work. Studies reveal knowledge workers make informed decisions about where they choose to play and work based on the outdoor recreation available to them. The greater La Crosse area is the mother of outdoor recreational opportunities.” \u00a0In La Crosse,\u00a0the recreation opportunities include road and mountain\u00a0bicycling, hiking, sailing, canoeing, wind surfing, fishing, cross country skiing and more. One\u00a0key to the success in this effort is the easy accessibility to these opportunities from the city of LaCrosse. \u00a0A second key is the past and continuing effort to develop these opportunities in the best way possible.<\/p>\n

So, \u00a0yes, this approach to job creation can work, but it isn’t as easy as saying “Well, the forest\u00a0is there, go hike in it.” \u00a0If hiking is the opportunity, well maintained trails that are accessible to residents and lead to worthwhile places, like world class viewpoints, are necessary. \u00a0This takes serious planning and execution. \u00a0It also requires that all the details about these opportunities are available to users and those users have access to support systems, like bicycle or canoe rentals, maps or whatever else they may need to discover and enjoy the available opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/h1>\n

A solid, community-based approach to developing, maintaining and presenting a broad range of outstanding recreational opportunities can drop your local unemployment rate. It takes some work, \u00a0but as these efforts\u00a0bear fruit, \u00a0your community will be much more liveable and attractive to those that are looking for premium outdoor recreation opportunities – current residents and new residents alike.<\/p>\n

Please Share<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you know, our\u00a0mission to\u00a0improve your health by encouraging you to\u00a0explore the outdoors, but the benefits of getting outdoors don’t end there. \u00a0The way your community supplies local outdoor recreation opportunities can lead to a marked improvement in your community’s employment situation. \u00a0The key here is knowledge workers. What is a Knowledge Worker? Back in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ideas","category-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2240"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2246,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240\/revisions\/2246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}