Where the River Meets the Bottom Line
We believe that the businesses protecting our rivers, forests, and coastlines are the ones that will thrive in the decades ahead. Emerger Strategies exists to prove it — one sustainable brand at a time.
Meet Rick CrawfordOur mission: boost your brand's profits by measuring & improving your sustainability performance — because sustainability that doesn't make business sense won't last.
A Moment of Transformation. A Philosophy of Connection.
In fly fishing and entomology, an emerger is an aquatic insect caught in the most critical transition of its life — the passage from nymph to adult. It rises through the water column, vulnerable, exposed, and essential. Trout know it. Anglers know it. And at that liminal moment, everything in the ecosystem is paying attention.
When our founder Rick Crawford was learning to fly fish in Wyoming, he became fascinated with entomology — the science of insects and the intricate ecosystems that depend on them. He discovered something deeper than hatches and fly patterns: he discovered systems thinking.
"Just as a mayfly, a sipping trout, and a river ecosystem are all connected — so too are businesses and the environment. You cannot protect one without caring for the other."
That insight became the DNA of Emerger Strategies. We help businesses undergo their own transformation — evolving from conventional operations into sustainable, resilient, and genuinely competitive organizations. Not out of obligation. Out of opportunity.
Sustainability isn't a cost center. It's not a PR exercise. Done right, it reduces overhead, deepens customer loyalty, satisfies retail partners, and positions your brand for the future. That's the Emerger approach: prove the business case, then protect the planet.
By extension: a business ready to break through, rise above, and emerge as something stronger.
Host, The Sustainable Angler Podcast
Founder, Fly Fishing Climate Alliance
Built from Passion. Grounded in Purpose. Proven by Results.
Rick Crawford grew up exploring the salt marshes, barrier islands, and coastal plains of Savannah, Georgia — a kid who was happiest when he was outside and near water. That love of the natural world never left him. When he moved to Wyoming after college, trading the tidal creeks of the Lowcountry for the cold, clear rivers of the West, something clicked.
He discovered fly fishing — and became completely obsessed. But it wasn't just the fishing. It was the rivers. The ecosystems. The way everything was connected. That summer at the A Bar A Ranch in Encampment, Wyoming, Rick read Yvon Chouinard's Let My People Go Surfing and had the revelation that would define his career: business could be a force for good.
What followed was years of learning by doing — installing solar panels in Jackson Hole, working inside a biodiesel startup, then a green building software company. Both startups failed. But those failures taught Rick something invaluable: sustainability for its own sake isn't enough. It has to make business sense.
In 2016, Rick returned to Charleston, SC, earned his MBA in Sustainable Business from Marylhurst University, and launched Emerger Strategies — marrying his two deepest passions at last. Today, he partners with fishing and outdoor brands across the country, helping them reduce costs, meet retailer sustainability requirements, and build lasting loyalty with customers who care about conservation.
When he's not working, you'll find Rick on the water with his wife and kids. Everything he does is in service of the places and people he loves.
The Principles That Guide Everything We Do
As Seen In & Honored By
Let's Build a Sustainability Strategy That Actually Works for Your Business
If you're a business owner who shares a passion for fishing, the outdoors, and doing the right thing — we'd love to show you how sustainability can help your company grow, lead, and make a lasting impact.
Start the Conversation Protect what you love.