293: NWA's Booming Outdoor Recreation Industry with Phil Shellhammer

Welcome back to the Startup Junkies podcast!  On this episode, hosts Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Davis McEntire spoke with Phil Shellhammer, director of the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program at the University of Arkansas, co-founder and CEO of Eksplor Gaming, and President of Wize Computing Academy. Phil and his family moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2009 with plans to leave shortly after. However, like many others, they fell in love with the outdoor community and opportunities that the area brought, and Phil now dedicates his time to helping other entrepreneurs find their path in the outdoor recreation space through the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP). Throughout the episode, Jeff, Caleb, Davis, and Phil discussed how GORP is contributing to the growth of entrepreneurs, why Arkansas is an excellent place for outdoor recreation, what’s next for GORP, and much more!

 

Thanks for tuning in!

 

Shownotes:

(1:43) The Origin Story

(3:25) Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP)

(4:43) Why Outdoor Rec?

(10:26) The Kind of People and Founders GORP Is Looking to Bring In

(12:09) Definition of Accelerate

(18:15) Phil’s Projects Besides GORP

(24:07) Where Is GORP Going?

(26:21) National Businesses vs. Local Businesses

(28:00) Arkansas’ Future in Outdoor Rec

(33:53) The Landing Question - Advice to Younger Self

(35:39) Get in Touch

 

Links: 

Jeff Amerine

Caleb Talley

Davis McEntire

Phil Shellhammer

GORP

 

Quotes:

”...I think our whole region can claim world-class in a lot of different activities, and people from all around the world really come here and enjoy this activity. Therefore, because we have that, then we know we have people here that are passionate about it and that would have ideas or problems to solve within it.” Phil Shellhammer, (6:24) 

 

“If I can get the right passionate people in a room and just have them talking about where the biggest problems are…then you can actually build entrepreneurs out of that [who] otherwise might not have dipped their toe, and they create a little side gig business until it's a legitimate business.” Phil Shellhammer, (11:40)

 

“You need people wrapped around you that can help support, that have gone through it before, that know the expertise.” Phil Shellhammer, (30:51)

“...My whole goal is to sit with as many people as possible, walk them through their journey, help them figure out where their problem is, what problem they want to solve and how they want to do it. So the more we can do in outdoor rec within that, the better.” Phil Shellhammer, (36:10)