The Shift: University of Arkansas’ GORP business accelerator gains traction

Phil Shellhammer, director of the College of Arkansas’ Greenhouse Out of doors Recreation Program (GORP) is bullish.

• He advised Axios that greater than 140 product and repair concepts have come to him within the final 18 months. “There [are] lots of people constructing stuff round right here,” he mentioned.

• Most of these entrepreneurs are in Arkansas, however folks from Maine to Los Angeles have reached out for GORP providers.

Driving the information: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders introduced who will information the Pure State Initiative final week; Bryan Sanders, first gentleman, is chair and Shellhammer is a council member.

Why it issues: Enterprise accelerators like GORP are serving to construct a community of entrepreneurs prepared so as to add to Arkansas’ $3.5 billion outside recreation business.

Context: GORP, presents each a la carte providers to startups within the outside recreation business and an application-only accelerator program with intensive coaching.

The newest: The third cohort of GORP’s accelerator program is approaching its midway level of the 12-week program. Its six corporations are:

• All Our bodies on Bikes Clothes Co., a size-inclusive biking attire model.
• Greatest Journey of Your Life (b-royl) designing biking clothes that forestalls pores and skin irritation.
• Cloud Pad designs reasonably priced security merchandise for mountain climbing.
• Greenway Bike Firm converts analog bicycles into electrical help bikes.
• Reggy is launching on-line instruments for biking occasion organizers and coaches to help with scheduling, fee transactions, electronic mail and web sites.

By the numbers: The accelerator has graduated 11 corporations since beginning final yr.

• “​​​​To my information … all of them are nonetheless very a lot viable or working in the direction of launch,” Shellhammer mentioned.

The underside line: GORP and the Pure State Initiative are pulling in the identical path, however non-public funding in startups remains to be wanted for the business to mature and ultimately gas Arkansas’ GDP.

Go deeper: Watch the Arkansas Parks Centennial Celebration Wednesday at 11am.

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