Each year we invite Conservation Alliance grantees from the past three funding cycles to nominate member companies for an Outstanding Partnership Award. The award recognizes member companies that go above and beyond in building relationships with Conservation Alliance grantees. Each nomination describes how the company engaged in a meaningful partnership to help the organization succeed in its conservation work. Celebrating these partnerships is a reflection of the community we have helped to build and exemplifies “Outdoor businesses giving back to the Outdoors.” Trust for Public Land nominated Ibex Outdoor Clothing for their outstanding support in Vermont and beyond.
Over the past two years, Ibex Outdoor Clothing has been an outstanding partner and friend to The Trust for Public Land. Our relationship with Ibex began in Vermont, their home state. Ted Manning, Ibex CEO, joined The Trust for Public Land’s Vermont Advisory Board in 2014 and has been a committed and engaged member ever since. Of particular note has been Ted’s leadership in the development of our Vermont strategic plan and his ongoing work as a spokesman and champion of the organization’s conservation efforts across the Green Mountain State.
Ted, in partnership with Chelsea Pawlek (Ibex Supply Chain Manager and Conservation Alliance Board member), helped to organize The Trust for Public Land’s National Board retreat, which was held in Vermont last summer (the retreat rotates to different locations across the country each year). Perhaps most notable was their work in organizing and recruiting a panel of business representatives that focused on the intersection of business and conservation. The gathering helped tremendously to deepen our relationships with the business community in Vermont and beyond, and has already led to additional philanthropic support and free marketing services.
As part of the retreat, Ibex generously donated beautiful merino wool vests emblazoned with our logo for each board member and local staff member. Fifty vests were donated in total, with a retail value of approximately $5,000.
Outside of Vermont, Ibex participated in a dinner event that The Trust for Public Land hosted in Salt Lake City, and have expressed interest in continuing to learn about our work in locations outside of Vermont as well.
Ted has been a champion of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, one of our nation’s most important sources of public conservation funding. He has participated in radio shows about the economic importance of the outdoor industry in Vermont and nationally, and how the outdoor industry benefits from conserved land.
