DECEMBER
21 2021
PA Wilds a finalist in national challenge for funding
Pro Disc Golf world champion visits future course site in McKean County CLERMONT — A near-perfect December day welcomed James Conrad, a world champion disc golfer, to Clermont to rattle some chains. Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is an emerging sport that is played like traditional golf, only using flying discs and chain-basket targets. Holding the 2021 Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) World Championship title and the 2019 United States Championship, Conrad has been throwing discs for most of his life. During the final round of the 2021 world championships, he made what is widely known as the greatest shot in disc golf history, tossing a 247-foot blind shot straight into the chains. McKean County is home to a new disc golf course currently under construction on private property in Clemend, owned by Brenda Walker. When completed, the course will be called the Shawmut Depot Disc Golf Course.
Josh Menteer, an advanced local disc golf player from Kane who is also Walker’s nephew, will design and construct a challenging 20-plushole course over a 100-acre playing field. The course will feature ponds, hanging baskets, elevated baskets, and a disc golfer’s greatest obstacle — trees. Menteer was invited to the U.S. Amateur Doubles Championships in Emporia, Kansas last summer, where he and his partner played alongside aspiring disc golfers from across the country. “Having a challenging course such as this will enable us to eventually hold sanctioned tournaments, bringing in folks from all over who will add business to our local economy in the way of food, lodging and retail purchases,” Menteer said. The sport was formalized in the 1970s, and is now growing at a rapid pace. “We want to be part of it,” Walker said. “You’re never too young or old
to throw a disc, whether it’s just for fun or as a competitive game with your friends. It’s great exercise and is also an outdoor family activity where you can enjoy the beauty of nature all year round, and it won’t break your bank. “We were very fortunate to make the necessary connections to invite the world champion of the sport to check out Shawmut Depot DGC right here in Clermont and play a round with (Menteer) and a few of his friends, and especially to get (Conrad’s) input and advice.” The Shawmut Depot DGC is currently playable by invitation only, as there is much more work to be done. The course has tentatively planned to be opened to the public by the summer of 2022, and is already listed on the UDisc app for disc golfers. Menteer’s wife, Leslie, will manage the course’s Facebook page Conrad is a Premier Team player with MVP Disc Sports and is MVP’s highest-profile male pro open player.
COUDERSPORT — The rural Pennsylvania Wilds region is a finalist for up to $100 million in investment to grow its outdoor recreation industry, officials said Monday. A total of 529 communities across the country, representing all 50 states and five territories, submitted applications to the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge program to compete for the transformative investments, which aim to advance regional industry clusters and aid in pandemic recovery. Only 60 applicants were selected to move on to Phase II. “We are thrilled to make it to the final round,” said Ta Enos, CEO of the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship (PA Wilds Center), the nonprofit that is spearheading the application on behalf of partners across the 13 counties of the PA Wilds — including McKean and Potter counties. “We want to thank the many businesses and organizations who supported our Phase 1 application. There is a lot of work ahead. We are in it to win it for rural PA.” The PA Wilds Center is the lead nonprofit for the regional strategy to establish the PA Wilds region as an outdoor recreation destination to help diversify local economies, attract new investment, improve quality of life, inspire stewardship, and attract and retain the region’s working-age population. The PA Wilds region has seen double-digit growth in visitor spending in every county of the PA Wilds over the last decade, according to annual Tourism Economics reports released by the State Tourism Office. The years 2017-19 saw
record-setting growth in visitor spending, to $1.85 billion, or about 11% of the region’s economy, supporting many small business startups and expansions in rural PA. “We got great support letters from major employers and small businesses in the region,” Enos says. The Center’s application proposes five projects to support this cluster: 1.) strategic recreation infrastructure development; 2.) workforce development; 3.) entrepreneurial ecosystem expansion; 4.) cluster sustainability and resilience; and 5.) profile raising to attract private investment. The application includes six “Coalition Partners” that would spearhead recreation infrastructure construction projects and many other local organizations that would assist in carrying out the cluster development over the next five years through subcontracts with the PA Wilds Center. EDA published details about all the finalists on its website on Monday. “We were excited to see that ‘Equity’ was EDA’s No. 1 investment priority for this program, and that underserved rural areas are identified as part of that equity conversation,” Enos said. “Way too many rural regions in this country have been left behind. Ours is working to recover from decades of divestment and population decline. An investment like this would be transformational.” Finalists have until March 15 to submit their full proposals. A total of 20 to 30 of the regional coalition finalists will be selected for funding in September 2022. Successful applicants will have five years to complete their projects.
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