The National Governor’s Association report Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development provides the nation’s governors with ” examples from states across the country to help governors incorporate the arts and culture into their long-term economic development strategies.”  RTS’ work in Arkansas and North Carolina is featured prominently in the work.  The work specifically mentions RTS’ approach of using case studies as a way to ” provide powerful insight into a state’s cultural industries, illuminating the economic impact of specific industries, the relationships between various businesses and occupations, and the needs of various economic clusters.  The report can be downloaded from NGA’s site here.

No not another Star Trek spin-off, but Stuart Rosenfeld traveled to the wintry climes of Minnesota to participate in the state’s 2009 Legislative Policy Conference entitled: “The ‘Next Generation’ Economy: Areas of Dynamic and Innovative Growth.”  Stuart gave a presentation entitled “Supporting & strengthening the knowledge economy”.  In the talk, Stuart talked about where Minnesota can invest to prosper in the global economy.  His recommendations included investing in: supporting sustainable clusters; higher education, particularly  community colleges;  innovation, including user-driven activities; arts & artisan-based enterprises; amenities and distinctive places; and, extending global connections  You can see Stuart’s entire presentation here.

Stuart Rosenfeld traveled to Denver recently to make a series of presentations relating to our work on Colorado’s creative economy.  Stuart gave the keynote speech at the annual Cultural Forum, which this year was entitled “Avancing Colorado’s Creative Economy.”  Our report to the Arts Council of Colorado that we worked as part of the Alliance for Creative Advantage will be released in January.

We’re pleased to announce the newest member of the RTS team.  Jim Lott comes to us as our new Director of Workforce Development Programs.  Jim brings decades of experience to RTS, helping run  workforce development systems in three states: North Carolina, Mississippi and Maryland.  Jim has most recently worked as a consultant with the State of Mississippi in several capacities. He authored the state’s Workforce Investment Board Strategic Plan and worked to plan and develop the One-Stop University Training Institute for workforce professionals.  We’re so excited to have Jim aboard and to put him to work!  To read more about Jim and to introduce yourself to him, you can click here.