2022 PA Wilds Buyer’s Guide features regionally made products, area shops and PA Wilds branded goods
2022 PA Wilds Buyer’s Guide features regionally made products, area shops and PA Wilds branded goods
Individuals or retailers looking for products made in the Pennsylvania Wilds are encouraged to check out the 2022 PA Wilds Buyer’s Guide, a free downloadable tool designed to connect people to regionally made products and services.
The PA Wilds Buyer’s Guide is an annual digital publication by the Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania (WCO), a network of more than 400 creative entrepreneurs based in the 13-county region known as the Pennsylvania Wilds that is managed by the nonprofit PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship (PA Wilds Center).
Visit www.WildsCoPA.org/our-members to download the 2022 PA Wilds Buyer’s Guide or learn more about the Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania.
“The PA Wilds Buyer’s Guide is a tool that lifts up our region’s artisans, producers and retailers – helping to make important connections among them so they can develop new business opportunities and ultimately create more locally rooted wealth in our rural communities,” said LaKeshia Knarr, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Director at PA Wilds Center. “The Buyer’s Guide showcases whether artisans sell their products at wholesale prices, and outlines retailers’ sourcing models as well. We have seen that visitors at our PA Wilds Conservation Shops are excited to learn that the products they’re taking home are from our region and support local artists, and we believe this tool can provide more opportunities for that type of shopping experience for residents and visitors alike at destinations across the region.”
ABOUT THE WILDS COOPERATIVE OF PA
The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania is one of rural Pennsylvania’s largest networks of creative entrepreneurs, featuring over 400 businesses located in the Pennsylvania Wilds. The WCO seeks to grow and connect the unique establishments and creative producers central to our region’s place-based tourism development. The WCO provides members with branding and marketing tools; networking and education opportunities; access to new markets and products, and mentorship and referrals to PA’s financial and technical service programs for small businesses. The WCO is managed by the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., a regional nonprofit organization that seeks to marry conservation and economic development in the Pennsylvania Wilds. Learn more about the WCO at www.WildsCoPA.org.
ABOUT THE PENNSYLVANIA WILDS
The Pennsylvania Wilds is a 13-county region that includes the counties of Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Warren, and northern Centre. For more information on the region, visit www.PAWilds.com.
The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to integrate conservation and economic development in a way that inspires the communities of the Pennsylvania Wilds. The PA Wilds Center works with partners to promote the region as a premier outdoor recreation destination and manages the Wilds Cooperative of PA in an effort to help businesses find new markets. For more information on the PA Wilds Center, visit www.PAWildsCenter.org.
RECENT WCO NEWS + UPDATES
- Full Circle Bioconversion LLC: Turning food waste into a business
As a child, the Pennsylvania woods were Aubrey Fornwalt’s playground and the stream was her pool. After a life change in 2016 led her back to her childhood home in Lycoming County, Fornwalt took a risk and bought some black soldier flies for a composting business, taking inspiration from the woods and insects she loved as a child. Two years later, it grew into what would become Full Circle Bioconversion, based in the city of Williamsport in the Pine Creek Valley and PA Grand Canyon landscape and I-80 Frontier landscape of the Pennsylvania Wilds region. - Blackbird Distillery: Making shine and making friends
Not too many businesses can say they create their product completely from start to finish, but the folks at Blackbird Distillery can! Located in Brookville along the I-80 Frontier landscape and the Cook Forest and the Ancients landscape within the Pennsylvania Wilds, Blackbird Distillery is a one-of-a-kind place that takes pride in showing visitors the magic of how their product is made. - Judy Schrader: Creating small, but very mighty art
Judy Schrader’s love for art began when she was just a child, and it soon grew into a lifetime of creation. Based in Warren County in the Allegheny National Forest and Surrounds landscape of the Pennsylvania Wilds, her art has ranged from boundless wilderness scenes to miniature details of the wonders of nature.