A Spokane native who now lives in Southern California says he is in the process of building a business that seeks to pair outdoor enthusiasts with third-party travel vendors, providing a sort of Airbnb Inc. for recreational buffs.

Airbnb was founded in 2008 and now successfully connects people to unique travel experiences across the globe. Wayne Borromeo, 25, is trying to get his new app-based business, The Guided Cooperative Inc., to do the same for those who are anywhere from recreational novices to hardcore enthusiasts.

“We’re trying to create a full-scale outdoor communications platform that offers outdoor services at a more convenient and hopefully affordable cost,” says Borromeo, who graduated from Ferris High School and now lives in Los Angeles near his alma mater, California State University at Northridge.

With the hopes of being ready for business by no later than the end of the year, Borromeo and company co-founder Christopher Whitesides want users to be able to go to www.theguidedcooperative.com and book recreational adventures with third-party hosts, ranging from small and independent guides to larger outfitters.

Borromeo says between 40 and 50 recreational groups have expressed strong interest in linking their excursions and adventures to The Guided Cooperative website that currently is in development. An application for the iOS operating system is also in the works, Borromeo says.

Spokane resident Glen Griffin Sr. who has a master’s degree in business from Harvard University, has assisted Borromeo and Whitesides in establishing their business and financial model. Their idea is to generate the majority of revenue through memberships, though they haven’t established a set price yet, Borromeo says. Booking trips would provide a second revenue source.

“We’re looking at recovering 15 percent of the customer’s transaction fee and 2 percent for the user’s participant fee,” Borromeo says. “So if an individual books a $100 trip, we’re going to earn $17 from that transaction.”

Borromeo, who describes himself as always having been an outdoor enthusiast, says he’s followed a circuitous route to get where he is now. After graduating from Ferris, he spent a year at Washington State University before transferring to Cal State Northridge, where he wanted to pursue a career in film and television. He briefly worked at Nickelodeon and DreamWorks SKG before he took a job on campus that made him decide to switch career paths.

“Last year, I worked as a guide for CSUN’s local outdoor and adventure club. We led backpacking trips in Yosemite, rock climbing expeditions,” Borromeo says. “It was run through the college but open to the general public.”

He says he met a lot of people who enjoyed the outdoors experiences; however, he learned that had it not been for the college, they wouldn’t have known about the opportunities.

“Obviously, we want to make this our work, but we also think there is a large group of people out there who would enjoy the chance to be able to rock climb, camp, but don’t have an idea as to where to begin to find information as to how to do it,” he says.