Parliament is an interesting collection of, as they call themselves, “Working Class Creatives” helping to build a stronger and more interesting creative milieu in the Charleston, SC metro area. They certainly seem to sponsor some really interesting events! To keep up check out their blog.

And we say all this not just because they partially funded and devote a page to the work we did on the creative economy in Charleston.

The Mississippi Economic Council in cooperation with the state’s citizens and private sector is building a collaborative vision for moving the state’s economy and community forward.  The process, known as Blueprint Mississippi 2011, has led to the development of a series of goals and recommendations on education, the economy, diversity, financial resources, health, infrastructure and other key areas.

A top focus is the creative economy.  The following creative economy strategies are based in large part on the study we completed with the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission Development. The reports are available here and more on the effort is on the Mississippi Creative economy website.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Support the goals in the report, Mississippi’s Creative Economy, released by the Mississippi Arts Commission with the Mississippi Development Authority:
  • Facilitate efforts that make communities throughout the state more creative and vibrant.
  • Promote entrepreneurship and small business growth among creative firms.
  • Help communities preserve and generate added value from cultural and historic heritage.
  • Enhance the competitiveness of the state’s businesses and industries through increased use of art and design.
  • Enhance the support and networking infrastructure for creative talent across the state.
  • Build capacity to grow and retain creative talent living and working in Mississippi.
• Develop tools and strategies to support growth throughout the tourism industry.

On August 11th the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission released our report on the state’s amazing creative economy.  Information on the strategies for the creative economy is found on the state’s new creative economy website. The report demonstrates that the creative economy generates more than 60,000 jobs within the state. You can find project director and RTS founder Stu Rosenfeld’s presentation on the report here.

The report examines the various segments of the creative economy including visual and performing arts, design, film, literary and publishing, culinary arts and museums and heritage.  We also detail the support structure for the creative economy such as organizations, education and training, creative spaces and the investments that the state has made to build the creative economy.

Working with the Authority and Commission, we also developed a series of recommended goals and strategies intended to help the state reap the full benefits of its creative people and creative economy.

The report has three parts.  A short Executive Summary succinctly presents the main elements of the study. The Main Report provides all the detailed data and information on the creative economy and is a great resource. Finally we produced a series of vignettes on the state’s creative assets titled Red Hots and Deep Blues: Stories of Mississippi’s Creative Economy that provides a rich feel for the depth and variety of creativity within the state.

Be forwarned that the files are pretty large, especially the vignettes, so be patient with the downloads!

Michael Kane of Mt. Auburn Associates and Dr. Stuart Rosenfeld of RTS presented the final results of the Creative Industries: A New Economic Growth Opportunity for the Milwaukee 7 Region study to a sold-out crowd of 300 at the Creativity Works! Moving Forward event.  Click the link to hear the Creativity Works! radio story from WUWM 89.7 FM radio.

A streaming feed of the full event is available from the Creativity Works! website.

Read or download the Executive Summary or the Full Report

One of the most dynamic cities in the South, Charleston, South Carolina, has asked RTS to examine its creative economy. We will take a look at a three county region’s creative enterprises, workers and assets and help develop strategies to enhance the creative economy’s impact in the Low Country. The project will also benchmark Charleston’s creative economy against selected communities in the Southeast.

Helping communities act more collaboratively in regional approaches has long been a hallmark of RTS’ work. A new effort in South Dakota will allow us to work with a group of counties and municipalities looking to create a new regional growth strategy. The strategy will include an analysis of the region’s clusters and a plan designed to build and support the research enterprise and educational assets at the region’s universities and link them to the private sector as economic development drivers.

Our latest work in the creative economy takes us to the land of Faulkner, the Blues and a whole lot of new artists making a name for themselves.  The Mississippi Arts Comission along with the Mississippi Development Authority has contracted with RTS and the Alliance for Creative Advantage to analyze how the state’s creative industries contribute to the economic health of the state.  Along with looking at the impact of the arts, we will also be examining how manufacturing companies such as Viking Ranges and Peavey Electronics have used design to not only grow their enteprises but influence growth in the region.  Over the next few months, we will be traveling to the Magnolia State to conduct focus groups, write vignettes about creative economy from the Delta to the Gulf Coast and help the state develop strategies for enhancing the impact of arts and design.

With the recent release of our work on Arkansas’s creative economy, we thought it appropriate to share some of the lessons learned about the impact creativity can have in rural parts of the country.  Dan Broun, RTS’ Director of Special Projects, wrote a piece entitled “The Creativity of Rural America,” for the online publication, The Daily Yonder.  The Daily Yonder focuses on issues impacting rural communities across the nation.  The piece can be read here.

CraftNet, a network of community colleges supporting the creative economy, now has an exciting new home on the internet. craftnetglobal.com offers  information abot the many exciting programs offered by the network.  Of special interest is the new ECommerce for Artists curriculum that serves as an introductory guide to help artists establish and sustain an entrepreneurial Web presence.  The curriculum was developed collaboratively by CraftNet member organizations and artists and funded with the support of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

We are excited to announce the publication of Unveiling the Creative Economy in Arkansas: Strategies to Increase Creative Capacity and Competitive Advantage.  The report is the culmination of a three year study that RTS, along with its partner in the Alliance for Creative Advantage, Mt. Auburn Associates, conducted for the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.  This report offers recommendations on how Arkansas can build upon its impressive assets to enhance its creative economy. The report offers lessons for other states as well particularly those with large rural populations and that have traditionally depended on low-wage manufacturing.  You can download a copy of the report here.