The Creative Spark - The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

The Creative Spark
The Economic Driver of Austin
Kevin Patterson
General Director

How do You Define Creativity?
• The production of something original
• Requires divergent thinking (Multiple
Ideas)
• Requires convergent thinking (Combining
ideas to a new result)

A recent IBM poll of 1500 CEOs identified
creativity as the No. 1 “leadership
competency” of the future. 1
1. The Creativity Crisis. Bronson, PO and Ashley Merryman,
Newsweek, 10 July 2010

The Creativity Index
• Developed by E. Paul Torrance
• Measures creativity in children as a
predictor of future accomplishments,
• Millions of children tested 1950s through
today.
The correlation to lifetime creative accomplishment
was more than three times stronger for childhood
creativity than childhood IQ. 3
3. Jonathan Plucker, Indiana University

Creativity in Decline?
An analysis of more than 300,000
Scores from 1990 forward show a
marked decline in creative ability,
especially in children from kindergarten
through the sixth grade. 4
4. The Creativity Crisis. Bronson, Po and Ashley Merryman, Newsweek, 10 July 2010

A Whole New Mind
“The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind –
Creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.”

From The Agriculture Age To The Conceptual Age 2
Affluence, Technology, Globalization
Conceptual Age
(Creators & Empathizers)
Information Age
(Knowledge Workers)
Industrial Age
(Factory Workers)
Agriculture Age
(Farmers)
18 th Century 19 th Century 20 th Century 21 tst Century
2. Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind. Riverhead Books, New York, Pg. 49

“In my own philanthropy and business endeavors, I
have seen the critical role that the arts play in
stimulating creativity and in developing vital
communities…the arts have a crucial impact on our
economy and are an important catalyst for learning,
discovery, and achievement in our country.”
- Paul G. Allen
Co-Founder Microsoft

Non-Profit Arts & Cultural Activities
• Nationally – 100,000 Strong
– $166.2 Billion in Total Annual Expenditures
• FTE Jobs, $5.7 Million
• Resident Household Incomes $104.2 Billion
• Local Government Revenue, $ 7.9 Billion
• State Government Revenue, $9.1 Billion
• Federal Income Tax Revenue , $ 12.6 Billion
– From 2000 to 2005 spending by organizations
and their audiences grew at a rate of 24%.

Arts & Culture = Jobs
In 2005, nonprofit arts and culture organizations alone supported 2.6
million full-time equivalent jobs. Of this total, 1.3 million jobs were a
result of “direct” expenditures by nonprofit arts organizations,
representing 1.01 percent of the U.S. workforce. 5
5. Arts & Economic Prosperity III, The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and
Culture Organizations and Their Audiences, National Endowment for the Arts.

A Labor Intensive Industry
Dollars spent on human resources
typically remain in the community longer
thereby having a greater economic impact. 6
6. Arts & Economic Prosperity III, The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and
Culture Organizations and Their Audiences, National Endowment for the Arts.

Impact of Arts & Culture Audiences
• Total Expenditures - $103.1 Billion
– FTE Jobs $3.1 Million
– Resident Household Income $46.9 Billion
– Local Government Revenue $5.1 Billion
– State Government Revenue $5.6 Billion
– Federal Income Tax Revenue $5.7 Billion
• 39% of attendees traveled from outside the county of the
event, 61% were local.
• Local attendees were five times more likely to be active
voters.

…many cities and towns across the nation are stepping up to support the
continued growth of arts and culture. Not only do the arts provide a much needed
social escape for many in our communities—they also help drive local economies.
Having an abundance of unique arts and events means more revenue for local
businesses and makes our communities more attractive to young, talented
professionals–whose decisions on where to start a career or business are
increasingly driven by quality of life and the availability of cultural amenities.
- Mayor Bart Peterson
Former Mayor of Indianapolis
President National League of Cities

Create Austin 2008
• The creative sector employs 44,000 people in Austin.
• It generates over $2.2 billion in economic activity and $48 million in local tax
revenue.
• Arts-related tourism generates over $1 billion in economic impact and $36
million in local tax revenue.
• The not-for-profit performing arts and visual arts generate $532 million in
economic impact and $6 million in local tax revenue.
• Austin is the #2 major U.S. city in the number of community celebrations,
festivals, fairs and parades per thousand population.
• Live Music contributes $616 million in economic impact and $11 million in
local tax revenue.
• There are 1,543 music-related businesses in Austin and 1,903 Austin music
acts.
• Film/TV/Commercials/Corpo-rate/Sports/Animation generates $113 million
and 3,674 permanent and crew jobs. 7 7. Create Austin Cultural Master Plan, April 2008

Austin – Top Creative Center in the US
The success of the emerging technology industries
relies heavily on the creative culture which provides
the creativity, energy, enthusiasm and willingness to
take risks necessary for an entrepreneurial community
to thrive.
Kevin Johns
Economic Growth & Redevelopment
Services Director
Innovation Nation. Entrepreneur Magazine, August 2010

An Austin Arts Ecology
• Interconnectivity dominates the arts
landscape.
• Individual artists are more dependant on
the survival of large arts institutions for
work
• Austin’s culture of creativity is dependant
upon a strong economic climate for the
arts.

An Arts Recession
• Audiences across Austin are down an
average of 20 – 25%
• Government support is down 15 – 20%
• Corporate support is down 30 – 40%
• Individual support is down 20 – 25%

Innovation – A Shared Services Approach
• Create economies of scale for purchasing power
• Collaborative Marketing to grow the market
• Increase awareness through advocacy of the
creative culture

Creative Culture is
Investment not Support
• Business partnerships are key
– Economic Impact
• Financial investment equals a strong ROI
– Cultural Impact
• A Creative environment encourages entrepreneurs
– Tourist Impact
• Economic and cultural ambassadors
– Business Development Impact
• A diverse arts and cultural community is a magnet for relocation and
development