Alliance for Creative Advantage

In 2007, RTS, Mt. Auburn Associates, and HandMade in America formed The Alliance for Creative Advantage. This coalition combines the economic development, assessment, planning, and urban expertise and experience of Mt. Auburn with the cluster, international, assessment, planning, and rural development expertise and experiences of RTS, and the community based experience of HandMade in America. The Alliance's member firms are recognized as national and global leaders and innovators in developing approaches to understanding the creative economy and developing ways to build on it for increased economic impact. It is also distinguished from other economic analysis firms by its emphasis on the implementation and usability of the research; many of its ideas have been put into practice. The Alliance has long experience in conducting rigorous, innovative research that we then translate into usable methods and action steps for clients.

In particular, RTS and Mt. Auburn have been at the forefront of defining and developing creative economies nationally and internationally and finding ways to increase their triple bottom line, economic, social, and environmental impacts. Both have expanded the conventional definitions of arts and cultural to include all enterprises and self-employed artists that compete on the basis of design and aesthetics plus their entire value and knowledge chains. They also have been the first to describe and address creative sectors as "industry clusters," and to address the implications for occupational education and for innovation. Handmade in America is nationally recognized as one of the leaders in helping communities use their creative assets to expand their economies.

Together, RTS and Mt. Auburn have conducted creative economy studies for:

• the states of North Carolina, Arkansas, Montana, and Louisiana
• for regions such as New England and the Berkshires
• and for cities such as New York, Lowell, Massachusetts, Sheridan, Wyoming, and Tucson, Arizona