HICKORY — The City of Hickory, with Lenoir-Rhyne University, Alexander County, Lake Hickory Pub & Marina, and regional collaborators, hosted the first Creating Outdoor Recreation Economies Hackathon on April 20, the city said April 27, 2026.
The multi-day event started April 17 with a kickoff at the Broyhill Entrepreneurship Center on Lenoir-Rhyne’s campus. Teams spent several days refining concepts, then pitched April 20 at Lake Hickory Pub & Marina to judges and community stakeholders.
CORE challenged teams to write a marketing plan for Hickory’s October 2027 outdoor recreation event, meant to showcase Lake Hickory, the Hickory Trail system, and mountain-biking trails. Judges said each presentation had ideas that could go into the final event plan. One team mapped 5K and river-float routes on existing infrastructure and aligned the work with Hickory’s CORE plan and Alexander County’s 2045 goals. Another built a model for repeat student engagement. A third offered first-year financial projections, phased marketing, and revenue strategies.
Winner Lauren Arnold, a Lenoir-Rhyne student-athlete in business and corporate communications, said in her pitch, “The concept event turns Lake Hickory into more than a view. It turns it into an experience.”
The city thanked LRU’s College of Business and Economics for hosting and funding prizes. CORE is described as a way to use recreation assets for tourism, small business, quality of life, and infrastructure, and to position the region for outdoor-gear manufacturing. Details are at www.hickorync.gov/creating-outdoor-recreation-economies.
The April 27 notice does not list the prize amount, how many teams entered, or other finishers.
Official release from City of Hickory, April 27, 2026. https://www.hickorync.gov/city-hickory-and-lenoir-rhyne-university-host-core-hackathon-advance-outdoor-recreation-economy
