The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship has signed a 35-year lease with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to operate PA Wilds Conservation Shops at two state parks in the Pennsylvania Wilds region. The two mission-driven gift shops, at Kinzua Bridge State Park and Leonard Harrison State Park, help improve market access for rural entrepreneurs by sourcing 90% of inventory from rural small businesses in the 13-county PA Wilds region.
“We are grateful to Gov. Josh Shapiro and his administration for making this happen for our organization and mission and our growing network of rural small businesses,” says PA Wilds Center Founder and CEO Ta Enos. “Thirty-five-year leases are a big deal. They give small businesses, community partners, current and future employees, and funders the confidence to invest with us because they know what we’re building is around to stay.”
PA Wilds’ flagship PA Wilds Conservation Shop at Kinzua Bridge State Park opened in 2016 under a short-term lease, marking the start of a unique public-private partnership between the PA Wilds Center and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), which manages the park.
“The Pennsylvania Wilds is the largest of the state’s eight Conservation Landscapes established by DCNR to link stewardship, strategic outdoor recreation investments, public-private collaboration and community revitalization at a multi-county level,” says DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn. “This agreement and these shops extend DCNR’s ability to serve the public and local economies well, and we are grateful for our impactful collaboration with the PA Wilds Center across this awe-inspiring landscape.”
Enos adds that DCNR is “a foundational investor in the PA Wilds’ work” along with its sister agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
“We collaborate regularly with both agencies,” she says. “The stores were sort of an experiment when we first started. DCNR had built this new visitor center that had a retail space, and we were a few years into assembling our Wilds Cooperative network of all these incredible makers and other rural small businesses. It was actually DCNR park leadership that asked if we’d ever thought about creating a retail space for our network so they could more easily reach visitors with their handcrafted products. The more we looked at it, the more we realized, this is a fantastic idea that advances our mission in so many ways.”
PA Wilds opened two additional Conservation Shop stores in 2024 at Leonard Harrison State Park in Tioga County and along the Knox-Kane Rail Trail in Marienville in Forest County. Collectively, the three stores have achieved over $3.4 million in gross sales.
“About half of what our stores generate goes right back to the rural small businesses that make up our supply chain,” says Enos. “The remainder supports our mission and store operations, including local jobs. We have an incredible store team that works diligently to create a great experience for customers, collaborate with local makers and pass park foot traffic to small businesses in nearby gateway communities.”
The Conservation Shop at Kinzua Bridge State Park remains the center’s flagship store. Even with the Kinzua Skywalk under maintenance this year, PA Wilds says many people are still coming to the park and its visitor center to “take home a piece of the PA Wilds.” Many also donate through the center’s charity checkout campaign, which gives 100% of donations to the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation for reinvestment back into state parks and forests in the PA Wilds.
“People visit PA Wilds Conservation Shops, experience the beauty of nature around them at places like the iconic Kinzua Bridge and are surprised and impressed with the quality and variety of our locally made products,” says Libby Bloomquist, who oversees the shops as the sustainable commerce director. “They appreciate that the shop doesn’t feel like a typical gift shop and that the products support good causes in the region. Over time, it has become not only a place for visitors to get souvenirs but also a gift-giving destination for locals to find unique products.”
As part of the 35-year lease agreement, the PA Wilds Center has agreed to make $200,000 in capital improvements at the parks over the lease period. Any capital improvements will go through an approval process with DCNR. Enos says the center has also secured funds to look at other potential Conservation Shops sites in the region as well as a nonprofit franchise model for local communities.
“We are really proud of these new regional commerce systems and supply chains we are creating to support rural small businesses and good stewardship,” Enos says. “It’s very intentional, and there have been many hands that have helped us get here, including DCNR. We greatly appreciate their support.”
