The Outdoor Recreation Division, CNM Ingenuity, and Outdoor New Mexico Reveal Six Finalists for the Live Adventure Pitch at Outdoor Economics Conference

Albuquerque, NM—The Outdoor Recreation Division (ORD) CNM Ingenuity, and Outdoor New Mexico have revealed the six finalists to live pitch at the first-annual Adventure Pitch on Friday, Oct. 7, at the 2022 Outdoor Economics Conference in Taos. Entrepreneurs will be competing for $15,000 in cash prizes, where first place will win a $10,000 cash prize, followed by $3,000 for second place, and $2,000 for third place.

The startup pitch event for outdoor companies, organized by CNM Ingenuity’s Startups and Small Business team in partnership with ORD, received a wide range of inspiring, diverse, and competitive submissions.

“Central New Mexico Community College and CNM Ingenuity are proud to be part of this exciting effort to support startups and small businesses that can help add momentum to the outdoor industry in New Mexico,” said CNM President Tracy Hartzler. “We look forward to working with the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division and Outdoor New Mexico to help grow our state’s outdoor economy.”

The invitation for this annual outdoor industry pitch event went to startups based in New Mexico with high-growth potential and a core offering that touches outdoor recreation, the environment, and/or health and wellness. The Adventure Pitch seeks to connect industry startups with investors and mentors to seed an entrepreneurial network of outdoor-business founders, industry experts, and funders to grow the New Mexico outdoor economy.

“These finalists represent the talent and creativity of outdoor industry innovators in our state, and we look forward to the experience and connections the Adventure Pitch provides to startups," ORD Deputy Director Alyssa Renwick said. “The outdoor recreation industry contributes nearly $2 billion to state GDP annually and opportunities like this for our outdoor businesses are invaluable.”

The applicants were scored based on the strength of their ties to New Mexico, business description, industry knowledge, target market, competitive advantage, the ability to scale the company in New Mexico, and revenue potential.

The six outdoor Adventure Pitch finalists are:

• Base Medical, CEO Teal Harbin: Base Medical is a woman-led training solutions company based in Albuquerque and Durango, Colo., disrupting the field of wilderness rescue education with an innovative approach that eliminates the current barriers of wilderness medicine and search and rescue (SAR) education.
• Bison Star Naturals, Co-Founder Jacquelene McHorse: Bison Star Naturals is a Native-owned, family operated body care company started by Angelo and Jacquelene McHorse in 2018 in Taos, New Mexico.
• Earth Traveler Teardrop Trailers, Co-Founder Laura Esteves: Santa Fe based Earth Traveler Teardrop Trailers has created an innovative, ultra-light teardrop trailer that can be towed by virtually any sized vehicle.
• Freeze Dried Products, Partners Lane Grado & Chris Lang: Freeze Dried Products is based in Las Cruses and is proud to be the world's first and only producer of freeze-dried Hatch chile.
• TruFit, CEO Adam White: TruFit is a Tijeras-based business with a goal to share a new fitness experience for differently abled athletes that is empowering, inspiring and effective at helping everyone to be their best.
• Rerouted, CEO Chap Grubb: Rerouted, located in Albuquerque, is an online and app-based company that seeks to revolutionize the used outdoor gear industry.

These businesses will be pitching live to investors from inside and outside the state Friday morning at 9:15am on Oct. 7. After the contest, they’ll embark on adventure experiences that showcase New Mexico’s outdoor recreation scene, such as white water rafting and mountain biking.

Those interested in attending the Outdoor Economics Conference and the Adventure Pitch can visit www.outdooreconomics.com for more information and to register.