Want a way to connect your business with a corridor that stretches across five counties of eastern Pennsylvania?
Since 1988, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor has worked to preserve and revitalize historic places, focusing on highlighting the benefits of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, a trail that starts in Wilkes-Barre and moves south down to Bristol.
New Hope, Bethlehem and Jim Thorpe are only a few of the towns touched by the 165-mile corridor, which offers picturesque views, walkable amenities and connections to local businesses.
To capitalize on this asset, The D&L National Heritage Corridor, an Easton-based nonprofit, is rolling out its D&L Trail Friendly Business Program. Its main goals are to connect, promote and support businesses that cater to trail users and support trails; educate businesses about the needs of trail users as well as the trail itself; and collect and share data on trail users and trail-friendly businesses.
There’s a bunch of reasons why doing this is a positive thing for your business, aside from the fact that it helps promote a great, valuable resource that’s part of our natural environment.
Runners, walkers, bikers and paddlers all use the trail and its waterways, and they all have the potential to bring in more business for your company.
What’s more, it also shows you value them and encourage them to appreciate our natural resources in an active, healthy way.
In Pennsylvania, outdoor recreation generated $29.1 billion in annual consumer spending and 251,000 direct jobs, and $1.9 billion in state and local taxes, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, based in Boulder, Colo. The D&L Trail produced more than $19 million in total economic impact, according to the local organization.
Here are some of the benefits for those businesses that are approved as trail friendly:
• Free decal to display on store identifying business as a D&L Trail Friendly Business.
• Approval to use D&L Trail Friendly Business logo on your website, promotional or marketing materials.
• Listed on the delawareandlehigh.org trail business website with name, website and phone number.
• Inclusion in the D&L Trail Friendly Business list and press release distributed to statewide and regional media outlets each year.
• D&L social media post announcing your designation as a D&L Trail Friendly Business.
• At least one yearly feature in the D&L weekly e-blast newsletter.
All businesses are required to apply online to be a D&L Trail Friendly Business. For details, go to http://delawareandlehigh.org/trail-programs/dl-trail-friendly-business/.
