About the OGB

Matt Godfrey

Executive Director

Matt has been an advocate, business leader, connector and educator in our outdoor industry for many years. He has been engaged with the OGB since the early days serving as a founding board member including a term as board chair before exiting in 2020. In partnership with the OGB and Mountain Bizworks, he developed the Waypoint Accelerator, an outdoor entrepreneurship and innovation accelerator program for early-stage, outdoor-focused companies which he has led for the past 3 years. At the same time, he served as the Outdoor Industry Business Specialist for the NC Small Business & Technology Center.

He loves being outside fly fishing, paddle boarding, hiking, camping and skiing. The Appalachian Mountains hold a special place in his heart, having spent the majority of his life living in Western North Carolina with his wife and two boys. Matt studied business and outdoor recreation management at Appalachian State University and earned an MBA from Western Carolina University. He believes that providing a platform for collaboration, networking, the exchange of ideas, best practices and connections is one of most important value propositions the OGB offers their member companies. This platform spurs innovation, competitive advantage, business growth and overall positive impact within our outdoor economy and community.

Anna Rawlins

Board Chair

Anna has over a decade of experience working in the outdoor industry namely in the events, sales, and marketing sectors. Currently, she is the Marketing Director at Eagles Nest Outfitters, Inc (ENO) spearheading the events program, strategic partnerships, and public relations, all combining her passions of building and growing relationships, environmental stewardship, and expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion within her local community and the outdoor industry. She relocated to WNC in 2011 and currently resides in Mars Hill, NC with her partner, dog, cat, and many chickens. Outside of the office, she enjoys hiking, surfing, fishing, gardening, and getting people outside.

Stacey Gellert

Vice Chair

Stacey is an outdoor industry veteran with more than 17 years of experience in trade show management. She was appointed Executive Director at the beginning of 2020.  During her tenure, she’s helped the organization grow to over 600 members with 14 annual shows servicing 3,000+ retailers. Her and her husband are long-time residents of West Asheville, NC. When not walking their dog in the neighborhood, you’ll find them on weekend adventures hiking, biking or at the beach.

Adam Cohen

Board Treasurer

Adam began his outdoor career in 2005 while working the retail floor at Mast General Store.  This is where his passion for the industry took shape, and he became interested in the “business” of all things outdoors. After putting his gear to good use as a guide at a wilderness therapy program, he transitioned to a management role with Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO). He spent the next 10 years with ENO developing a deeper understanding of the industry and was successful in launching ENO’s international sales program.  It was through this experience that Adam was connected to European outdoor brand distributor, Sport Hansa, and in 2018, he accepted the position as Director of Business Development. The years of industry experience culminated at Sport Hansa and Adam was given the opportunity to develop several house brands from concept to market. Earning shelf space at some of the nation’s largest outdoor retailers was the highlight of his career.  After the birth of his twin sons in 2021, Adam reconnected with ENO and transitioned back as their Chief Financial Officer.  Adam has earned his MBA from Louisiana State University at Shreveport, and when he’s not crunching numbers, he can be found playing outside with his three boys and sneaking in evening runs.

Abby Harris

Board Secretary

Abby really found her footing in the WNC outdoor community (literally) when she first joined the NC Mountain Trail Runners (NCMTR) back in 2016. After spending 2 years serving as President of NCMTR, she continued being actively engaged within the community, serving on the board for the RUN828 Foundation, working on creating more trail running opportunities for women, and co-founding WNC’s first and only hundred mile race, the Hellbender 100 Miler. If you haven’t already guessed by now, Abby loves trail running, but what she’s valued most from it are the new connections and insights she’s made from people of varying backgrounds in the outdoor industry. Currently, she is the Digital Marketing Manager for White Blaze Marketing, where she works on developing, implementing and managing marketing campaigns for a number of businesses. In her role, she has produced targeted marketing campaigns, social media and display advertising along with email campaigns to help increase brand awareness and loyalty for companies both small and global. When she isn’t immersed in the digital marketing world, Abby loves digging into a good book, trying out new recipes, and tagging high peaks with her partner.

Chris Webster

Board Member

Chris credits his grandfather, a founding member of the Great Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, for inspiring his love of the outdoors but it wasn’t until college that he really got hooked. Mountain biking and hiking the area around the campus of Western Carolina University was where he decided the outdoors would always be a part of his life. After college he found whitewater raft guiding and his true passion. Chris was a raft guide for 12 years on the French Broad River and continues to paddle recreationally almost every week throughout the year. Chris comes to the OGB as a nine-year co-owner of Second Gear, an outdoor gear consignment shop in the River Arts District. With a mission to make the outdoors more accessible to all socioeconomic classes and keep gear out of landfills Second Gear has been thriving for the last 18 years. Chris is excited to be a part of the OGB and to explore new ways to get more exposure for local makers’ products.

Jenna Toney

Board Member

While Jenna is new to the outdoor industry, the outdoors have been a part of her life since she was a kid growing up in the mountains of western North Carolina, Northern Georgia and the upstate of South Carolina. Jenna comes from the non-profit management and victim services industry where she coordinated volunteers, worked on strategic partnerships and community building, fundraising, marketing, and event planning. During her 7 year tenure in the non-profit world, Jenna would escape on the weekends to the mountains to play and decided to jump all the way into the outdoor industry. Jenna currently works as Marketing Leader at Cane Creek Cycling Components and is responsible for leading all marketing, promotional, public relations, advertising, sponsorship, social media and sales support initiatives. When she’s not in the office, you can find Jenna mountain biking, hiking, skiing (when it’s cold enough) or climbing with her friends.

Tim Bateman

Board Member

Decades of wrenching on bikes and guiding backcountry cycling trips throughout the US led Tim to Kitsbow Cycling Apparel where he’s now the Technical Team Manager, responsible for overseeing the efficient operation of all the machines on the production floor. He fuels his days with coffee, pizza, chocolate, and a passion for problem solving to stay focused on constantly improving the manufacturing process. He fills his free time enjoying the outdoors and laughing with his family or daydreaming about where to go on the next bike adventure.

Devin deHoll

Board Member

If depth of experience is the metric by which you judge, few can match Devin’s resume in the outdoor industry. From retailing to guiding, from bikes to whitewater and everything in between, Devin has been involved in a whole host of roles in every corner of the outdoor economy during his 11 years in the industry. A true native son, Devin graduated from UNC Asheville and focused briefly on building a resume in marketing before starting Asheville Adventure Company. During his company’s early beginnings, it has seen tremendous growth as an outfitter in the Asheville area. This has been due in part to Devin’s leadership in brand development, his deep knowledge of the area, and his entrepreneurial talent. In Devin’s quiet moments away from work, he is an avid and well recognized runner. As one of the few sponsored runners in Asheville, Devin’s athletic resume includes a 2019 Shut In Trail Race victory here on his home trails.

Stuart Cowles

Board Member

Stuart began a career as an outdoor educator and guide in the early 80’s leading wilderness trips in Northern WI, MI, MN, and Canada.  It was during these early days of wilderness travel and exploration that he also found his love for working with people in this setting.  In 1988 Cowles completed a Thru-Hike of the Appalachian Trail and that jaunt solidified his desire to be in the mountains and develop a career in the outdoor industry.  A short stint living and working in the industry in CO helped boost his love for rock and alpine climbing and a few years up in NH allowed him to learn how to suffer through long cold winters and swing the ice climbing tools to the highest level of proficiency.  In 1992 Cowles moved to Asheville, NC specifically to start one of the country’s very first rock climbing gyms, Climbmax Climbing.  Beyond pursuing advanced training and certification in his field, Stuart has also been actively engaged in his community, working on the board of many area non-profits, promoting parks and greenways, and helping to create the long-lasting Mountain Sports Festival.  When Stuart is not out sharing his love of climbing with others he enjoys hiking, mountain biking, trail running with his pup, and even creating and sewing gear through his small company Earthsports Design.

Steven Reinhold

Board Member

Steven was made and raised in WNC and takes great pride in authentically representing the area. He has worked in the outdoor industry for over a decade starting in 2010 when he became an Ambassador for Big City Mountaineers’ Summit for Someone program which gave him the opportunity to work closely with some of the world’s premier mountain guiding outfits like Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and Sierra Mountaineering International. During those fundraising climbs he quickly realized that he excelled at sharing the stoke of adventure and that mountain guides are the coolest people on the planet! In 2014 Steven founded The Appalachian Adventure Company in an effort to bring the awesomeness he had discovered out west back to his North Carolina home. In 2015 Steven created the worldwide social media cleanup effort known as #trashtag which has now been utilized over 120+ million times online. He recently served as the Director of Adventure for Black Folks Camp Too where he helped ignite the Unity Blaze which is designed to make everyone feel safe and welcomed in the outdoors! Aside from owning and operating The AAC, Steven currently serves as Backpacker Magazine’s Brand Ambassador where he guides experiences and creates content to help further their endeavors.