From Micron Technology, to St.Luke's Health Systems, businesses across sectors depend on our outdoors when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees. In fact, 99% of Idaho businesses reached through a survey say Idaho's outdoors are an important factor in successfully recruiting employees.

Graphic Courtesy of: Idaho Business for the Outdoors

In partnership with Boise State University's Economics of Sustainability class, Idaho Business for the Outdoors created an eight question survey for Idaho businesses to help evaluate the impact of our outdoors on economic growth and job recruitment in Idaho in 2018. The survey was delivered to over 300 businesses, across 5 different sectors of industry in Idaho. With 125 businesses responding, we had a 41% response rate. The average response rate for external surveys in the U.S. is only 10-15%, implying above average support and participation from Idaho business in regards to Idaho’s outdoors.

Of these respondents, Idaho's education sector uses the outdoors as a recruitment tool 100% of the time, with health care selecting they promote outdoor amenities 80% of the time. In addition, 72% of manufacturing industry respondents believe a reduction of Idaho’s outdoors would directly affect relocating employees to their region. Only 6% of the professional services industry respondents believe a reduction of our outdoors would not affect them in any way. It is clear Idaho’s outdoors are a significant marketing tool for Idaho's businesses.

The social and economic value of Idaho's outdoors must continue to be evaluated, measured, and reported to help build conservation policies and practices that sustain our outdoors for Idaho’s current and future generations.

For more information on our methodology and full findings, click here.

OUTDOOR RECRUITMENT SURVEY

IDAHO BUSINESS FOR THE OUTDOORS