An organization that has long been known for its skiing programs and biathlon events, Maine Winter Sports Center announced this month that it’s changing its name to Outdoor Sport Institute to reflect the organization’s new mission to operate in all seasons and offer a broader range of outdoor sports programs throughout Maine.

Headquartered in Caribou, Outdoor Sport Institute plans to operate in all 16 Maine counties and beyond, with programs focused on empowering children, adults and communities through outdoor sport education.

“The fact is that we’ve been providing year-round, world-class and award-winning outdoor sport programming for over a decade, and we need a name that reflects that story,” said Andy Shepard, founder and president of the Maine Winter Sports Center, now Outdoor Sport Institute.

“Everyone engaged with the [Maine Winter Sports Center’s] profound growth and impact should be proud of what we accomplished,” Shepard said at a July 14 reception at Portland’s Ocean Gateway Pier, hosted by H.M. Payson.

“However, over that time, we have evolved from building and owning ski centers into an organization entirely focused on world-class programming. The time has come to seize the best of what we learned and refocus that energy on being a powerful force for change as an outdoor sport education institution.”