Arkansas’ First Gentleman Bryan Sanders sees opportunities in the state’s outdoor economy

Bryan Sanders, the state’s first First Gentleman, was given a task by his wife, Gov. Sarah Sanders, early in her administration: grow Arkansas’ outdoor economy.

And that’s what he aims to do.

It’s an unpaid job, but Bryan Sanders is well-suited for the role. He loves to fish and hunt. He’s an avid hiker and mountain biker. And he loves the beauty of the Natural State. Gov. Sanders put Bryan in charge of the Natural State Advisory Council, a group of public and private stakeholders in the tourism industry that is identifying ways for Arkansas to stand out from its neighboring competitors and to provide world-class attractions to outdoors lovers.

“I think the focus of Natural State Initiative all along has been collaboration,” Bryan said in an interview with Northeast Arkansas Talk Business & Politics. “It’s not meant to be top down, heavy-handed government. It’s really how you bring together all the different stakeholders and find ways that we can collaborate and really move the needle in terms of, No. 1, establishing Arkansas even more as a world-class destination for outdoor recreation but also just growing our outdoor economy and tourism industry.”

Double the Outdoor Economy
Early in the Sanders administration, Bryan and Sarah laid out an ambitious goal: double Arkansas’ outdoor economy in the next 10 years. That means growing the economic impact of businesses ranging from bike shops and mountain climbing to lake resorts and boat manufacturers from $3.5 billion to $7 billion in the next decade. Already, estimates peg the outdoors economy as adding $4.5 billion to state commerce almost two years into Gov. Sanders’ first term.

“We’re on track,” Bryan said. “I think there’s a good opportunity for us to do that. And of course, we’ve got some great partners in that effort that are making tremendous investments.”

Bryan spent the early months of 2023 touring all 52 Arkansas State Parks. That tour led to a package of incentives and investments to build on the strengths of certain parks. One new law in the governor’s first session involved “opportunity zones” — tax incentives to encourage more private investment in or near four key state parks.

Opportunity has already knocked.

One of the arguments in encouraging the zones was to attract a downhill lift-access for mountain bikers in Arkansas. Think of it like a ski lift for mountain bikes. In early February, the governor announced that a downhill lift-access company was coming to The Trails at Mena, a new bike project near Queen Wilhelmina State Park in western Arkansas. And OZ Trails, led by brothers Steuart and Tom Walton, also announced a similar lift-access project near Bella Vista.

Opportunity zones are also aimed at recruiting restaurants, coffeehouses, outfitters, tour guides or other amenities people might expect from national parks at Arkansas’ state parks. Bryan says he’s hoping to recruit an operator for a “via ferrata” on Petit Jean. A “via ferrata” is a protected climbing route on a mountain face that is equipped with fixed metal cables, ladders, and other anchors that allow climbers to traverse steep terrain safely. It combines hiking and mountain climbing opportunities in a safe manner for those without advanced technical skills or training.

There is an opportunity zone at the still developing elongated Delta Heritage Trail State Park in southeast Arkansas. Bryan said he thinks it will open in late 2026 or early 2027.

He’s particularly excited about Pinnacle Mountain State Park near Little Rock, where the zone incentives hope to recruit a potential occupant for the old visitor center. The state is creating the Maumelle Pinnacles Conservation Recreation Master Plan, a project that will connect downtown Little Rock to Pinnacle Mountain, Lake Maumelle and Lake Sylvia in the Ouachita Mountains. The area encompasses 55,000 acres and will involve hundreds of miles of trails. He envisions a central Arkansas version of the Razorback Greenway in Northwest Arkansas.

“With the Razorback Greenway, we’ve connected Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville with one trail system with lots of soft surface mountain biking and hiking trails that branch off from it. We have the same opportunity here in central Arkansas,” he said.

“Some of those pieces are already in place like the River Trail, the Big Dam Bridge, and the bridge connecting Two Rivers. So some key components are already in place, but so much of it is disconnected. The goal there is to bring it all together into one trail system, and the entity that’s responsible for that is the Pinnacles Conservation Area Partnership. It’s back to what I said earlier on collaboration,” Bryan added.

Convener-in-Chief
Bryan took on the task his wife charged him with after she described being tired of Arkansas competing at the bottom in various rankings, particularly in those areas where the state should be competing at the top. He knew Arkansas’ outdoors attractions were a differentiator from other states and the best way to focus his contributions beyond supportive husband and kitchen table political advisor.

He notes the state has twice as many people living within an eight-hour drive as outdoor destinations Colorado and Utah do. Arkansas’ outdoors market could be developed for a fraction of the price it would cost those states. He said someone had described Arkansas as potentially “Texas’ playground.”

“I look at my role like a convening role,” Bryan said. “I think Natural State Day was a great example. Our team at the Office of Outdoor Recreation — Katherine Andrews, Dalaney Thomas at Tourism, [and] Shea Lewis, our secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism — did an outstanding job of bringing together a lot of people who may not know each other.”

He described one development from the Feb. 4 Natural State Day at the Capitol, where legislators are now in session. A boat manufacturer met an Arkansas company that makes portable showers for camping.

“By the end of the day, they had hit it off and established an agreement that the boat manufacturer was now going to use that portable shower and provide that as an add-on when somebody buys a boat from them,” Bryan said.

Conference on Tourism
A larger opportunity for this type of collaboration and exchange is coming to Bentonville on Feb. 23-25. The Governor’s Conference on Tourism is co-locating with the Arkansas Outdoor Economy Summit for the three-day event in Northwest Arkansas. There are a battery of breakout sessions and keynote speakers as well as opportunities for networking and, of course, getting outside to bike, hike, take in an art museum or dine at a variety of local restaurants.

Featured speakers at the breakout sessions will center their talks on workforce, artificial intelligence, online and influencer marketing, case studies and industry trends.

This year’s conference will conclude with the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame and Henry Awards Banquet at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on the final night. Beyond several prestigious awards for industry businesses and individuals, there will be two inductees in the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame at the conference.

Philanthropist Alice Walton, who founded Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary, and regional tourism leader and restaurant owner Joe DeVito, of Harrison’s DeVito’s Restaurant fame, are this year’s inductees.

Bryan Sanders says his message to the tourism industry at this year’s conference is one of perseverance and focus.

“I think that the message is we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “I think there’s a lot to be excited about right now in Arkansas, frankly across our country. Leaning into the Natural State, that’s our identity as a state. It really sets us apart in this region and can be a driver not only for tourism and economic growth, particularly in smaller rural communities, but also in terms of quality of life and making this the best place to live and raise a family.”