Supply and Demand in North Carolina's Labor Marketplace
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Creative Enterprises in the Piedmont Triad Economy A Report to the Piedmont Triad Partnership February 2009 From the Alliance for Creative Advantage Regional Technology Strategies Mt Auburn Associates, and HandMade in America 1 This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded under Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This solution is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner. Piedmont Triad Partnership 416 Gallimore Dairy Road, Suite M Greensboro, North Carolina 27409 www.piedmonttriadnc.com For more information, contact: Margaret Collins Executive Director, Center for Creative Economy [email protected] Phone: 336-580-1037 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................5 Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................7 Prologue A Creative Vision for the Piedmont Triad .................................................................11 I. Introduction................................................................................................................................6 II. Defining the Piedmont Triad’s Creative Economy ..............................................................18 A. What can be counted and what can’t ..........................................................................18 B. What is unique or unusual about the Piedmont Triad’s creative economy? ............19 C. How does the Piedmont Triad region benefit from its creative assets and enterprises?.................................................................................................................................20 III. Depth, Breadth, and Geography of the Creative Economy ..........................................23 A. Relative concentration vs real importance ....................................................................23 B. A Workforce Perspective ....................................................................................................24 C. Benchmarks ..........................................................................................................................27 IV. Describing the Creative Enterprise Economy ....................................................................29 A. Visual Arts and Crafts ..........................................................................................................29 B. Product and Environmental Design ..................................................................................32 C. Film and Digital Media Arts ................................................................................................38 D. Heritage and Museums ......................................................................................................43 E. Literary and Publishing.........................................................................................................45 F. Performing arts ......................................................................................................................49 V. Strengths and Opportunities..................................................................................................52 VI. Goals and Action Steps.........................................................................................................57 Appendix A Goals and Action Steps Worksheet .....................................................................70 Appendix B Funding and Implementation Options ................................................................72 Appendix C Creative Occupations by SOC Code.................................................................76 Appendix D Benchmark Regions................................................................................................78 Appendix E Case Study: Crafts In Seagrove and the Yadkin Valley....................................83 Appendix F Case Study: Design in the Piedmont Triad ..........................................................86 Appendix G Case Study: Film and Digital Media Arts ............................................................94 Appendix H About Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc......................................................104 3 Acknowledgements This analysis of the Piedmont Triad region’s creative economy was completed under a contract between the Piedmont Triad Partnership and Regional Technology Strategies (RTS) under its U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Investment in Regional Development (WIRED) grant. It was a collaborative effort of the Alliance for Creative Advantage, which consists of RTS, Mt. Auburn Associates, and Becky Anderson Consulting, past director of HandMade in America, and consultant Robert Donnan. The RTS team was Chris Beacham, Stuart Rosenfeld, Jenna Bryant, Sarah Butzen, and University of North Carolina graduate student interns, Sarah Waterman and Zakia Barnes. The Mt. Auburn team included Michael Kane and Beth Siegel. The team is especially grateful to Margaret Collins, Director of Creative Enterprises & the Arts, for her active participation, support, insights, and help in arranging meetings, identifying sources of information, and reviewing progress. It was truly a collaborative effort. We also thank the Piedmont Triad Partnership who initiated, supported, and reviewed the project and critiqued early drafts—President and CEO Don Kirkman, Executive Vice President Penny Whiteheart, and Senior Vice President and WIRED Project Manager Theresa Reynolds. Susan Larson, formerly of UNC-Greensboro, also provided her insights to an early draft of the report. It took the active participation and support of many people in the region to acquire the information and insights necessary to describe and understand the cluster, including the Creative Cluster Leadership team of Will Spivey, Lee Thompson Jane Daub, , and John Drinkard. Hundreds of people in the region’s creative economy gave up their time to take part in meetings, focus groups and interviews (about 100), submitted responses to surveys (approximately 700), and responded to questions. We especially thank Carol Strohecker, Director of the Center for Design Innovation and the community college presidents for their assistance in providing meeting space and support. Tammy Spencer, Director, City of Reidsville Economic Development; Paul Parsons, Dean, Elon University School of Communications; Executive Director Jeanie Duncan, and Director of Marketing and Community Affairs; Altina Layman, United Arts Council of Greensboro; and Don Cameron, Guilford Technical Community College, all hosted and helped arrange meetings. Finally, we are grateful to the members of the Creative Enterprise and Arts Roundtable for their support, advice, and review of draft reports. Stuart Rosenfeld, Principal Regional Technology Strategies December 2008 4 Executive Summary Introduction The Piedmont Triad’s best bet to ignite and sustain a widely distributed renaissance of its regional economy is to nurture and promote a forward-looking mix of advanced technologies and applied creativity. The region’s emergent creative economy should build upon its earlier foundations—manufacturing, furniture and fabrics—while developing its new and emerging digital arts, media, and craft industries. It will realize its greatest success in the former, the more established industries, by boldly breaking the mold of more traditional designs, fashions, and markets. Now is the time to promote the Piedmont Triad’s most inventive designers, to pursue higher-end markets, and to strengthen its position in new niches. In so doing, the regional economy can become a robust, dynamic hub of creative individuals and firms. It already has the fundamental assets upon which to build such an environment—cultural heritage, creative talent, creative firms, and a strong post- secondary network of colleges and universities. As yet, however, the Piedmont Triad’s creative economy has not come into its own. It awaits the concerted resolve of its public and private sector leaders to build a critical mass of world-class creative enterprises and develop a brand that distinguishes it from other places. Simply put, the creative challenge facing the Piedmont Triad is to transform itself into a world-class center for design. This report defines the assets, support systems, and emergent opportunities that comprise the Triad’s creative economy. It illustrates how a more fully fledged network of creative enterprises and cutting-edge support systems—especially focused around design as its overarching competitive advantage—will attract creative talent, generate well-paying jobs, accelerate innovation, and support the success of other economic clusters in the region,