Two local companies compete for Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator

Vote for the finalists through February 26

[ By Kendra Walker ]

The ICELab is once again partnering with Moosejaw Mountaineering to hold its international outdoor accelerator mentorship program this spring, and two Gunnison Valley companies are included in the top 10 finalists in the running to participate in the program. Local companies Campfire Ranch and PACT Outdoors both bring innovative ideas to the outdoor industry, and hope to be included in the program to propel their businesses forward.

“We had 106 applications from 35 states and three countries,” said ICELab director David Assad. “Thirty-five applications were from Colorado with three in Gunnison County. Two of the three in Gunnison County were selected as top 10 finalists by a panel of six judges,” he said.

The public can vote on the 10 finalists and four winners will be selected to participate by the panel. According to Assad, votes will be a strong indicator of who the panel selects. The voting period lasts until February 26, and the four finalists will be announced on March 9.

The program itself is slated to run eight weeks from April 12 to June 4, where the ICELab team will dig into how they can help each company with their goals and growth. The first two weeks will take place remotely through Zoom meetings, and then the participants will travel to Boulder to meet with mentors in person. The final five weeks of the program will take place in Gunnison at the ICELab, with the companies staying on the Western Colorado University campus. “We love showing off our county to visitors and the four winners will have a home for five weeks here at Western to explore from this summer,” said Assad.

Concluding the program, the teams will get a write-up from GearJunkie, membership to Camber Outdoors, be able to sell their products through Moosejaw’s stores and e-commerce platform and receive free legal consultation from Holland & Hart. The last Moosejaw Accelerator program wrapped up with a final pitch event; however, the ICELab doesn’t have plans for a pitch event this time around. Assad explained that the ICELab has found from experience that each team has different needs that don’t necessarily require a pitch to investors in the end. “We’re trying to be more flexible to what they actually need,” he explained. “But if we find that all the teams have a similar need and that is investment, then we would put something together.”

Best case scenario, all of the companies will want to move to Gunnison County in the end, half-joked Assad. “The quality of our co-working space and our established accelerator curriculum were big influences on Moosejaw to take on the title sponsor role in the accelerator and keep it in Gunnison County for the second cohort,” he said. “The national exposure to Gunnison County as an outdoor industry leader is critical to our recruitment efforts at the ICELab. This directly supports our mission to create more high paying jobs in Gunnison County. Between the Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator program and Western’s Outdoor Industry MBA program we are making Gunnison County known as an outdoor industry hub.”

Local companies in the running
Campfire Ranch, founded by Western alumnus Sam Degenhard, got its start last summer with the opening of its first campground at Taylor Mountain Park. The campground partners with local outfitters and guides to help connect camping guests to gear, resources and outdoor activities. The goal is to become a national chain of campgrounds that appeals to a diverse crowd, helps those new to the camping scene learn best practices and cater to the air travel crowd who don’t have the packing space for camping equipment.

“We’re trying to create a space in the outdoors that’s more inclusive and more accessible to beginners, and overall make camping easier,” said Degenhard. “All in all, last year exceeded our expectations in terms of the first season of business and the campers that we were attracting. We saw lots of beginners come find us and to be able to help educate them as they come into the valley is pretty rewarding. “We’ve already had a lot of requests for this summer and a lot of folks looking to come back and hold events.”

In the off-season, Degenhard has been busy working to grow Campfire Ranch and the team, and expand to other locations. This ultimately led to applying for the accelerator program, said Degenhard. “We see it as an opportunity to fine-tune our strategy and operations and look at our growth more efficiently.” If selected as one of the four finalists, Degenhard plans to focus on how to grow his brand in the industry, and build an inclusive and quality service for customers.

“Moosejaw has a huge space of industry knowledge, they’ll be able to shed a lot of light,” said Degenhard. “It would be really beneficial to get that outside organization knowledge from industry experts that are carving the path.”

Degenhard is grateful for the buzz around Campfire Ranch’s possible inclusion in the accelerator. “We’re stoked on all the support from the valley,” he said. “Thanks to everyone who’s given us support thus far.”

Looking ahead to the summer 2021 season, Degenhard and team have a lot of things in the works for Campfire Ranch’s Taylor Mountain Park campground and look forward to announcing updates soon. Sam has already grown the team, hiring two Western students for help this spring with the hopes to carry them on into the summer. “We’re exposing them to all facets of the business – investor relationships, pitching, sponsor outreach, operations, marketing,” he said. “We’re kind of throwing them right into the trenches.”

PACT Outdoors was co-founded by Noah Schum, who recently moved to CB, and Jake Thomas of Denver. They’ve designed an all-in-one bathroom kit for outdoor adventures which incorporates mycelium – the root system of fungi – to break down human waste in the ground faster. The goal is to help provide a solution to an ever-growing problem in the wilderness recreation space, one that’s very familiar here in the Gunnison Valley.

“Participation and use in the outdoors is growing at an all-time high, and COVID had a big impact to that,” said Thomas. “With that increased participation, more people are mishandling human waste in the outdoors. People going to the bathroom outdoors is one of the biggest hurdles outdoor advocacy groups face. So we wanted to create a product that makes it easier to go outside and teach best practices and Leave No Trace principles.”

“As more people want to enjoy nature, not everybody knows the process. We can give them this hack to give them the proper tools,” said Schum.

PACT Outdoors is working with a microbiologist in South Carolina, Tradd Cotter, who specializes in mycelium and mushrooms. “He’s growing a specific strain of mycelium for us to break down human waste. It’s a fascinating world,” said Thomas. “Mycelium is amazing, it’s a non-invasive species, that’s what drew us to it,” said Schum.

If chosen as one of the four finalists for the program, Schum and Thomas plan to continue refining the product and get it ready to hit retail shelves. Their goal is to have the product available this spring or summer.

“We want to really define who our market is and find out what people like within the kit. The ICELab will help us identify these things. They’ve already set up great resources and connections,” said Schum, who first connected with the ICELab team during an ICELab Coffee with Coworkers event.

PACT Outdoors is also participating in the ICELab’s eight-week incubator program for local Gunnison County companies starting next week, and Schum and Thomas look forward to the robust curriculum and working with mentors and other entrepreneurs.

“We’re grateful for David and the ICELab for the opportunity,” said Thomas. “We know there’s a long way to go on this but we’re excited.”

Success story
One local success that resulted from a previous Moosejaw Accelerator is Hustle Bike Labs. Hustle’s bike pedal product is a clipless pedal with magnets that connect to plates that are compatible with any two-bolt shoe. After going through the 2019 program, founder Craig Payne ended up moving his business to the Gunnison Valley.

Since participating, Payne has focused on continuing the outdoor industry connections that the ICELab and the accelerator program helped him create. “We really just cherished those relationships and that was a big part of our successes moving forward,” he said. “It connected us with the movers and shakers of the industry.”

Set up for success following the program, things started happening quickly for Hustle with plans to begin manufacturing the product. However, with the rise of COVID-19, Payne’s production plans came to a halt.

“The reality of it was we were planning to go into manufacturing in March last year, and would have dropped a lot of money into a project that would have been catastrophic if we had done so at that time,” he said.

So Payne pivoted his focus in 2020 to new products and making adjustments to the original pedal. “It was a blessing in disguise because it gave us a chance to take a breath and do some redesigns,” he said. “And it gave us the opportunity to make some big pushes with some other new products.”

2021 is a new year, he said, and Hustle is ready to hit the ground running. “We have a new manufacturer and we’re getting close to production at this point,” he said, and Hustle is looking to get their first product out this summer. Hustle also has a shoe in the works, as well as a nylon composite pedal that will be available at a lower price point. The goal is to have all three products available this year.

With an office currently located in the ICELab, Hustle has continued its relationship with the ICELab team. “The program and the community have been great, it’s exciting to be the grassroots of something that can help change this mountain town economically,” shared Payne. “We want to be part of the community and the valley. One thing we did not see coming was the community love and support, which has been amazing. These are the people we want to be around and we’re thankful for it, we owe everything to the ICELab and the community.”

To vote for the final four companies of the Moosejaw outdoor Accelerator Program, visit https://www.moosejaw.com/content/moosejaw-outdoor-accelerator. Voting ends on February 26.