November 6, 2025 —The National Extension Tourism Network (NET) recognized the impacts and accomplishments of several of its members during an awards banquet held during its biennial national conference, held in partnership with the Northeast Travel and Tourism Research Association (NETTRA) in Meredith, NH, in early October. This year’s NET Awards program honored four deserving teams and individuals with four awards.
“This year we were blown away by the applications we received. It is inspiring to learn about the innovative partnerships, programs, and leadership our NET colleagues are engaged in around the country,” said NET’s Chair, Xinyi Qian. “Having an opportunity to share and celebrate our colleagues’ valuable work in their communities is a special part of the conference.”
This year’s awards included:
- The NET Excellence in Tourism Collaboration Award: Developing a 10-Year Strategy for Maine’s Outdoor Recreation Economy
- NET Excellence in Tourism Programming Award: MSU Extension Regional Tourism Assessment for Roscommon County
- NET Emerging Leader Award: Jason Entsminger, Assistant Professor & State Extension Specialist at the University of Maine
- NET Local Champion Award: Janel Lawton, Director of the New Hampshire Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development, Department of Business and Economic Affairs
NET Excellence in Tourism Collaboration Award
This year’s award went to: Developing a 10-Year Strategy for Maine’s Outdoor Recreation Economy
Through this successful collaboration, the team developed a framework for stakeholders connected to Maine’s outdoor economy across sectors such as hospitality, services, and manufacturing to align action on key initiatives, identifying key strategies and investment needed to fuel the growth and diversification of the Outdoor Recreation economy statewide for the next 10 years. The process engaged nearly 450 individuals representing businesses, civic organizations, local governments, and economic planning boards representing 31 cities and towns and all of Maine’s 16 counties.
Program collaborators obtained $1.5 million in funding to support the development of the roadmap and to kickstart implementation of resulting strategies. Additionally, at the November 2024 election, the citizens of Maine passed a $30 million bond for the design and development of terrestrial recreation trails. The finalized plan is available here (PDF). The team includes:
- Jason Entsminger, Assistant Professor & State Extension Specialist, University of Maine
- Carolann Ouellette, Director of Tourism, Film and Outdoor Recreation, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development
- Jenny Kordick, Executive Director, Maine Outdoor Brands
- Stacey Keefer, Executive Director, Maine Marine Trades Association
- Jeff McCabe, Director, Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation
- Nicole Lazure, Outdoor Recreation Planner, Bureau of Parks and Lands
- Jake Ward, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, and Engagement, University of Maine
- Jason Harkins, Executive Dean of the Maine Business School, University of Maine
- Tom Kittredge, Senior Investment Officer, Maine Technology Institute
- Rex Turner, Director of Acquisitions and Planning, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry
- Jens Kaus, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Maine
- Mikayla Reynolds, University of Maine MBA Student and former Intern for Maine Outdoor Brands
NET Excellence in Tourism Programming Award
This year’s award went to the Michigan State University Extension Regional Tourism Assessment in Roscommon County
Roscommon County, whose tourism economy is central to its vitality, lacked current, coordinated strategies across its municipalities. The Regional Tourism Assessment addressed this fragmentation by creating a county-wide, participatory process to surface strengths, gaps, and shared opportunities—bridging rural geographic divides. This process has already resulted in impacts, including:
- A $200,000 grant awarded to St. Helen for pedestrian infrastructure
- A business loan secured for a new brewery based on data.
- More than 80% of participants in forums reported that the program improved collaboration and inspired new ideas for tourism development
- Ongoing community planning using insights from the visitor reports.
The project team includes:
- Will Cronin, Extension Educator, Michigan State University Extension
- Andy Northrop, Extension Educator, Michigan State University Extension
- Garrett Ziegler, Extension Educator, Michigan State University Extension
- Mary Reilly
- Elliot Nelson
NET Emerging Leader Award
This year’s award went to Jason Entsminger (University of Maine)
The NET Emerging Leader Award recognizes an individual who is an emerging leader in tourism extension and outreach programming. This award is presented to an extension professional who has been working in Extension for fewer than six years. This year, NET recognized Jason Entsminger, Assistant Professor & State Extension Specialist at the University of Maine.
Jason’s nominator said it best when they stated, “Jason exemplifies the best traditions of Land-grant University mission integrating research, teaching, and outreach education providing local, regional and national leadership over the past five years.” His scholarly impacts particularly in agritourism and outdoor recreation are prolific in such a short time. Jason has also identified creative ways to connect Extension work to the classroom through development of a new course in the Maine Business School on entrepreneurial ecosystems in outdoor recreation economies. He has mentored a number of students and postdocs working in tourism and outdoor recreation.
A support letter for Jason’s nomination stated, “Dr. Entsminger also offers innumerable leadership qualities beyond the resumé. Jason is also the one we turn to when we’re looking for resources in a crisis or expertise on methods for a research article. And he is the one who wants to see our programs succeed and grow, just as he nurtures his own work.”
NET Local Champion Award
This year’s honoree was Janel Lawton, Director of the New Hampshire Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development (ORID), NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA)
The NET Local Champion Award recognizes an individual, organization, business, or entity located within reasonable proximity to the current NET Conference location (i.e., Meredith, NH) that has been a champion of innovative, inclusive, and progressive tourism-related efforts. This award is intended to highlight and celebrate local efforts happening near the current NET conference location.
Janel Lawton has shown a tireless commitment to bringing together a wide range of professionals across New Hampshire to address industry needs and find creative solutions. Janel has been a trusted collaborator of UNH Extension through work such as the Developing Interconnections for Regional Trails (DIRT) research and engagement project, the Nature Economy Collaborative, and workforce development initiatives. Along with her BEA colleagues from the NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development and statewide partners like the Granite Outdoor Alliance, Janel has co-spearheaded projects that address key resident and visitor needs. Her recent collaborative projects include the New Hampshire Workforce Toolkit for the Outdoor Lifestyle and the Wildly Responsible visitor safety and outdoor stewardship campaign. For more information, visit the ORID website.
NETTRA Best Poster Winner
Winner: Kara Rutter, Clemson University, for “Play, Place, and Purpose: Unpacking Agritourist Behavior Through Leisure and Place Attachment”
This award was determined by live attendee voting during the conference poster session. Voters noted that they appreciated Kara’s explanation of visitor motivations and expressed that this is an interesting topic for continuing work.
Note: The NETTRA Best Paper Award will be determined this winter. All presenters who submit to the conference proceedings will be eligible for consideration. Stay tuned!