The latest economic research shows arts and culture as a strong economic driver

Just In: Blue Chip Status Awarded to Arts and Culture!

By Mollie Fager, 10-25-06

Scenario: It’s morning, you’re commuting into work listening to your favorite radio station and the announcer interrupts the program with breaking news from Wall Street…. “Colorado arts organizations have just posted their quarterly earnings reports and are proud to report that their investors are realizing a 10 to 1 return on investment (ROI).”

Sound like a pipe dream? Guess again. The latest study measuring the economic impact of the arts in the Denver Metro area reveals findings that should send every congressional representative, municipal leader, business person and philanthropist running to the nearest phone to set up a meeting with their favorite arts organization.

Here are some of the highlights of the “2006 Study of the Economic and Social Activity of Metro Denver Culture” (Deloitte Consulting and Colorado Business Committee for the Arts). This study includes Boulder County arts and cultural organizations.

** Arts and Culture are big business in metro Denver, generating more than 1.4 billion in economic activity.
** The Science and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) infuses approximately $38.3 million annually into the cultural community. Of the $1.4 billion in total economic activity generated through this investment, close to $400 million was considered “new money “ infused into our local economy. This represents a 10:1 return of investment.
** Each $1 spent in cultural spending created $1.32 for other businesses. Cultural spending has a multiplying effect, creating spending across the business sector.
** Arts and Culture organizations collectively employ more employees than Denver metro Wal-Marts, Lockheed Martin, King Soopers and Qwest Communications.

This data is not only impressive but underscores an aspect of the arts that cannot be ignored. Arts and culture are not only integral to the quality of life of a healthy community, but arts and culture are good business. And in a city, such as Boulder, that is in need of economic revitalization we had better pay attention because there are other cities close by who are. I can’t open the business section of a paper without reading about new, creative arts and culture projects under development such as Westminister’s live/work/art studio complex, the Broomfield events center, or the creation of an Aurora arts district through the retrofitting of old buildings. Just look at the Belmar Lab in Lakewood’s new downtown center. When planning the project, City officials and the developer, Continuum LLC, looked at the trends across the country and came to the same conclusion. Arts and culture needed to be a focal point of the community in order to make it a success. This is a huge paradigm shift in that now it is business and government initiating arts programs, courting artists and catalyzing the growth of art organizations versus the other way around. It is time for Boulder to be proactive and embrace arts and culture as a legitimate and necessary element of any economic vitality plan, not as an addendum but as essential to a core strategy. When it comes to the economies of the Front Range cities of Colorado, this is one area that Boulder cannot afford to play catch up. For more information on the economic study check out www.cbca.org

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