The PA Wilds

Today is the FINAL day to apply to be a part of the Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience! If you already work remotely and you’re thinking about making a big life change to a more rural living location, this program is for you. Try out living in the Pennsylvania Wilds risk free for one month in summer 2024. This year’s experience is hosted in Williamsport and Saint Marys, in July and August respectively. Find full details and apply at: WildsAreWorking.com 🌲 #PAWilds

Applications close in ONE WEEK for the Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience. Experience what it’s like to fully immerse yourself in #PAWilds culture while living and working remotely. Full details at WildsAreWorking.com 🌲

Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience

"It's a risk free chance to try something new — so why not?" Applications are now open for the 2024 Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience on WildsAreWorking.com. This season's program features host communities Williamsport and Saint Marys, facilitated in partnership with the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce and City of St. Marys. Your workweek doesn't have to be ordinary. Connect with nature; experience a new community. Because here in the Pennsylvania Wilds, you really can have it all: Small town charm with big city amenities. Access to 2+ million acres of public lands. You can be on a video call one hour, then taking in the sights and sounds of a trail the next. If you've considered testing out rural, Pennsylvania Wilds living: Apply to participate in this year's experience. 🎥: Remote workers participating in the 2023 Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience in Warren share their insights.

Makers Market 2023

Discover your next cherished treasure at the online PA Wilds Makers Market! 🎨 Whether you're indulging yourself or on the hunt for the perfect gift, this is your shining moment. Circle November 4th on your calendar and visit ShopThePAWilds.com for the PA Wilds Makers Market. Here's what's in store for you: 🎥 Engaging videos that introduce you to our talented artisans, offering a sneak peek into their creative process and behind-the-scenes studio tours. 💻 Virtual storefronts for each seller, streamlining your shopping experience in one convenient location. 🧶 The latest and greatest creations from our Makers. 🏷️ Exclusive deals and discounts from our participating sellers. Don't let this opportunity slip through your fingers!

Beautiful even on the gloomiest of days 🌧️ #PAWilds 📍 Bog and Moss-Hanne trails, Black Moshannon State Park

PA Wilds Champion of the Year Awards

The Champion of the Pennsylvania Wilds Awards celebrate individuals, organizations, communities and businesses that are making significant contributions to grow and sustainably develop the outdoor recreation economy and nature tourism in the Pennsylvania Wilds. Join is in congratulating this year's Artisan of the Year, Sue Morris of Sue's Salves Celebrate this year's award recipients at a dinner on Thursday, July 27 — https://www.pawildscenter.org/network/events/#!event/2023/7/27/pa-wilds-dinner-and-awards

🌿 Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Champion of the Pennsylvania Wilds Awards! 🏆🎉 We are thrilled to celebrate and honor individuals, organizations, communities, and businesses that have made remarkable contributions to grow and sustainably develop the outdoor recreation economy and nature tourism in the Pennsylvania Wilds. Your dedication and passion are truly inspiring! The nine award categories showcased our region's incredible diversity of talent and innovation. Each winner has left an indelible mark on the PA Wilds, from conservation champions and trailblazing entrepreneurs to community builders and outstanding outdoor event organizers. Join us on July 27 at Gobbler's Knob for the PA Wilds Dinner & Awards, a true celebration of your achievements. Don't miss this inspiring event! 🌲 Don't miss out on the excitement! The festivities will commence with a lively cocktail hour and vendor displays at 3 p.m., followed by a delicious dinner and the highly anticipated award presentations from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. RSVP here —https://tinyurl.com/5h337fhp

🌿 Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Champion of the Pennsylvania Wilds Awards! 🏆🎉 We are thrilled to celebrate and honor individuals, organizations, communities, and businesses that have made remarkable contributions to grow and sustainably develop the outdoor recreation economy and nature tourism in the Pennsylvania Wilds. Your dedication and passion are truly inspiring! The nine award categories showcased our region's incredible diversity of talent and innovation. Each winner has left an indelible mark on the PA Wilds, from conservation champions and trailblazing entrepreneurs to community builders and outstanding outdoor event organizers. Join us on July 27 at Gobbler's Knob for the PA Wilds Dinner & Awards, a true celebration of your achievements. Don't miss this inspiring event! 🌲 Don't miss out on the excitement! The festivities will commence with a lively cocktail hour and vendor displays at 3 p.m., followed by a delicious dinner and the highly anticipated award presentations from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. RSVP here —https://tinyurl.com/5h337fhp

A rainy day spent at Wine in the Wilds 🍷 #PAWilds

“I wanted to apply because of my passion for recreation and hiking. The program afforded so many opportunities that I’ve never had before.” Jonathan Kohl, an archival producer for a documentary filmmaking company based in Philadelphia, participated in the summer 2022 Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience in Bellefonte. Since then, Jon has been an advocate of the program and the Wilds region as a whole. This summer, individuals and their partners or families that have the option to work remotely for their jobs can try out PA Wilds-living in the communities of Emporium or Warren. Learn more: WildsAreWorking.com #remotework #remoteworklifestyle #remoteworker #remoteworkers #remotejobs #pawilds #wildsareworking #warrenpa #emporiumpa

"I was curious about small-town living, deeper relationships, and getting outside more often, more quickly, and in a new place." Madison "Mads" Hanna spent a month in the Pennsylvania Wilds in summer of 2022, living in and experiencing all that the community of Kane has to offer. She was one of many participants in the pilot of the Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience. This summer, individuals and their partners or families that have the option to work remotely for their jobs can try out PA Wilds-living in the communities of Emporium or Warren. Learn more: WildsAreWorking.com

Big Idea Contest

Check out our interview with Mike Dixon of Emporium Machining Technologies in Cameron County. Mike talks about how he has used Ben Franklin Technology Partners/Central and Northern PA services to better his business. 💡 Do you have a BIG Idea? Apply to PA Wilds $50,000 BIG IDEA Contest by April 18, 2023! —https://bit.ly/41igTdi

Discover a slower-paced way of living. Enjoy the unique community character of small towns and cities. Talk to the locals – many of whom have lived in the Pennsylvania Wilds for multiple generations, since their ancestors first immigrated to the United States. The PA Wilds covers approximately 25% of the state’s land acreage in north central Pennsylvania, yet just 4% of the population. If you work remotely already, you can try PA Wilds-style living in summer 2023 — at no cost. 📲 WildsAreWorking.com #pennsylvaniaisbeautiful #pennswoods #centralpa #onlyinpennsylvania #visitpennsylvania #remoteworker #workfromanywhere #wildspa #wildsareworking #remoteworklife #getoutside #optoutside #pacollective

❗️Applications now open❗️ The PA Wilds communities of Emporium and Warren will host the 2023 Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience. Funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission through Ben Franklin Technology Partners and administered by the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., this project seeks to help address the issue of outmigration in rural areas by marketing PA Wilds communities as great places to live and work. Here's a look at the communities: 📍 Emporium, the county seat of Cameron County, is geographically centered in the “heart of the PA Wilds” and situated between the region’s Elk Country and Dark Skies landscapes. 📍Warren, the county seat of Warren County, is located in the northwestern corner of the PA Wilds — situated in the Allegheny National Forest and Surrounds landscape. Applications for the opportunity to become fully immersed in these communities are now open! Stay in a PA Wilds community while working remotely and experience all that life in the Wilds has to offer. Redefine your work week by accessing coworking spaces, trying new activities, and more. Your stay will be anything but mundane. Learn more and apply at WildsAreWorking.com 📲

The rise of remote work across the United States has allowed rural communities to welcome new residents seeking a different kind of lifestyle — that slower-paced lifestyle that can be found in the Pennsylvania Wilds. According to a January 2022 Pew Research Center survey, about 59% of U.S. workers who say their jobs can mainly be done remotely are working from home all or most of the time. Many communities in the PA Wilds region are well-suited to become long-term homes for workers with flexible jobs, and a program designed to give those individuals and their families a “test run” of life in that community could help to attract and retain them. The Wilds Are Working: A Remote Lifestyle Experience campaign seeks to raise awareness about the PA Wilds being a great place for remote and non-remote workers to live, work, and play. Stay tuned to The PA Wilds to learn which communities will host the program in 2023! www.WildsAreWorking.com

Does it matter where the stuff you buy comes from? We think so. That's the reason why The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania and ShopthePAWilds.com exist. The PA Wilds Makers Marketplace features products that have been handcrafted by artisans and craftspeople living and working in the Pennsylvania Wilds, a 13-county region known for its vast public lands, outdoor experiences, maker culture, and stewardship ethic. These quality products celebrate the beauty, bounty and rural traditions of the PA Wilds. And you can too! Your purchases help sustain our region’s small businesses and our rural communities. Shop now (this virtual event ends today!) — shopthepawilds.com/pa-wilds-makers-market

Join us this weekend for our Makers Market! The Makers Market features products handcrafted by artisans and craftspeople living and working in the PA Wilds. Their art pieces celebrate the area's beauty, bounty, and rural traditions. Your purchases during this event help sustain our region's small businesses and our rural communities! To learn more about the artisans involved check out The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania The event is virtual so you can support these artists from anywhere you are -- https://bit.ly/3E9foVC

Between our region’s state parks, state forests and the Allegheny National Forest (ANF), there are miles and miles of trails open to equestrians in the form of forestry roads, designated equestrian trails, and shared-use trails. In the video: Equestrian camping areas are found along a loop of the Thunder Mountain Equestrian Trail, which traverses roughly 30 miles in northern Elk County. Here's where to find equestrian trails on public lands in the #PAWilds — https://pawilds.com/equestrian-trails-pa-wilds/

Today and tomorrow, you can tour the first Passive House designed commercial building retrofit in the U.S. right here in the Pennsylvania Wilds! West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF) made a strategic decision to use energy to help revitalize communities. After three long years, the 120+ year old building in Kane, PA is being reborn to Passive House standards. Join us for conversations around building innovation, community investment, small business impact and the work of the PA Wilds on October 7-8, 2022. You can take part in the event two ways, either online or in-person (or both). Event details: https://mailchi.mp/a35c60dea77f/registration-now-open-sixkane-the-beginning

The Pennsylvania Wilds is home to the greatest concentration of public lands in the Commonwealth. We have 29 state parks, 8 state forests, 50 state game lands, and Pennsylvania's only national forest. That's land that belongs to all of us, and it makes us one of the largest blocks of green between New York City and Chicago. We are home to two National Wild & Scenic Rivers, one the largest wild elk herds in the northeast, and some of the darkest night skies in the country. We know that the road less traveled makes all the difference. We invite you to come be part of our story and explore the Pennsylvania Wilds. Learn more: 🌲 www.pawilds.com 🛍 www.shopthepawilds.com