Climate Outdoors Workforce Initiative (COWI) Landscape Analysis
- VOBA
- 16 hours ago
- 2 min read
Introduction
As climate impacts continue to reshape Vermont’s landscape, the outdoor industry is adapting alongside the communities and ecosystems it supports. From heavier rain events and shorter winters to flooding, wildfire smoke, and extreme weather, these challenges are creating an urgent need for a stronger, more climate-ready workforce. The Climate Outdoors Workforce Initiative (COWI), led by the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance in collaboration with state and workforce partners, was developed to help meet that need.
Grounded in Vermont’s broader climate, workforce, and economic resilience strategies, COWI aims to strengthen career pathways, workforce training, and resilience-focused opportunities across the outdoor economy. By supporting businesses, workers, and underserved communities, the initiative is helping build a more adaptable, inclusive, and sustainable future for Vermont’s outdoor sector.
Executive Summary
In the face of mounting climate change impacts, the Climate Outdoors Workforce Initiative (COWI) strengthens the knowledge, skills, and capacity of Vermont’s outdoor professionals to better face and recover from climate risks while attracting new workers into careers essential to Vermont’s adaptation and resilience. COWI aligns climate, workforce, and economic development initiatives from the State of Vermont and the outdoor economy.
Administered by the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance (VOBA), project partners are the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Climate Action Office, Vermont Department of Labor, Vermont Office of Workforce Strategy and Development, and Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC). COWI insights are based on input from 117 businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and state agencies through surveys, interviews, convenings of outdoor employers and career navigators, and a training design work group.
Vermont outdoor recreation enterprises are experiencing more frequent and severe climate impacts. Threats include extreme precipitation, flooding, drought, heat, wildfire/smoke events, and greater variability in season length. These impacts disrupt operations, cause financial pressure, and distress employees. They threaten enterprise viability, especially the numerous smaller businesses located in rural communities across the state.
Through strategy, operations, and technical skills, enterprises are activating the climate outdoor workforce to remain agile and resilient. Adaptations include adjusting seasonal product offerings to steady year-round revenue, ensuring customers have consistent access to recreation infrastructure, and bolstering public engagement to support community health, wellness, education, and stewardship. Each climate outdoor job in the COWI inventory prominently delivers on at least one or more resilience or adaptation outcome. Identified skills, knowledge, and agency leads to career advancement and economic security.
Skill gaps were found in human resources, finances, marketing/communications, and technical skills. Systematic workforce challenges are housing, low compensation, and seasonality. These barriers prevent the outdoor recreation industry from optimizing their climate resilience outcomes for enterprises and communities.
Two short-term COWI recommendations include: Creating an industry-led professional development training for staff with responsibilities in hiring, training and managing staff; and, sharing climate workforce materials to Vermont education institutions for incorporation into existing programs. Service learning career pathways materials are recommended to increase industry workforce recruitment and retention, collectively strengthening “seasonal to salary” career pathways. Long-term recommendations for capacity and program investment in industry, education, and service learning systems will further strengthen climate resilience in Vermont’s outdoor sector, communities, and landscape.
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