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2011 Finalists: America's Best Young Entrepreneurs

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On the Beaten Path Trail Contractors

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On the Beaten Path Trail Contractors

What it does: Builds hiking trails in national parks
Founder: Tyler Johnson, 24
Website: beatenpathtrails.com
Based: Fairborn, Ohio
Revenue 2010: n/a; launched February 2011
Revenue 2011 (projected): $3.3 million

The Wilderness Act of 1964 protects millions of acres of wilderness across the U.S. to keep nature untrammeled for current and future generations. While serving a two-year stint as a Forest Service firefighter in Wyoming, Tyler Johnson learned that the law prohibits the use of motor vehicles and machinery to build and maintain trails, making it hard to attract laborers. “The government has all of this money to do this work, but no one to do it,” says the 24-year-old outdoorsman. Johnson started On the Beaten Path Trail Contractors earlier this year, offering $17 an hour to off-season ski resort workers and college students on summer break. Now employing 63 workers in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, he says On the Beaten Path has secured some $3.3 million in contracts to build and maintain trails for the National Parks Service. Mindful of government spending cuts, Johnson isn't worried about trail construction in public areas getting whacked because of bipartisan support for wilderness access and job creation. —Nick Leiber
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