Neil McKenzie

Recruit and Retain: How the Arts Can Help Business Grow Your Local Economy

Posted by Neil McKenzie, Nov 17, 2011 0 comments


Neil McKenzie

Neil McKenzie

Our economic growth is stuck at a snail’s pace and at the same time our federal government seems unable or unwilling to find any meaningful solutions. States and local governments across the nation are scrambling to develop their own economic development plans and strategies to fill this void.

In the past, local economic development usually had a large public expenditure component that involved raising money (taxes) to build public works projects such as roads, bridges, and public venues. Many of these efforts were also based on subsidizing new businesses through tax incentives or direct subsidies. The problem now is that public money is in short supply and using these methods are limited if nonexistent.

While most businesses have experienced less demand for their products and services and have reduced their workforces, there are many companies that are expanding. There has been a fundamental shift in the goods and services we produce as the world has become flatter through international trade and new technologies.

Many of these companies are part of what has become to be known as the “creative economy.” The creative economy is characterized by companies whose products and services have a high content of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Arts and culture can play an important role in attracting companies in the creative economy to a local area.

On a recent visit to Winston-Salem, NC, I discovered that this city of 230,000 is known as the "City of the Arts."

Like most cities in America, Winston-Salem has felt the impact of the economic downturn and probably a bit more. The city was founded on tobacco, textiles, and furniture -- all of which have been subjected to changing consumer behavior, foreign competition, and outsourcing. The city is in the process of transforming itself into a hub of medical research, high technology, and bio-tech - all with a good measure of success.

The city also has the distinction of being the first city in the United States to create an arts council. The Winston-Salem Arts Council was founded over 60 years ago and was created with private money. Today the arts council is still relies on private funds with very little monies coming from the public sector.

The city has a brand new arts center which occupies a large building which was once one of the original Hanes textile manufacturing facilities. The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts contains a theater, classrooms, workshops, and a gallery. The center is an integral part of the city's downtown redevelopment efforts and the results are clearly being felt.

I was curious as to how an arts council could flourish for so long on just funding from businesses and individuals.

I posed the question to Milton Rhodes for whom the new arts center was named, "How did the Winston-Salem Arts Council get businesses to generously support the arts?"

His response was three words - "recruit and retain." I followed up with the question, "So you told them that supporting the arts would help them recruit and retain employees as they seek to develop the local economy with new technologies?" "No", he said, "That's what they told us."

Your local area can take some lessons from the Winston-Salem experience in using arts and culture to assist in economic development. If a company is to grow in the new economy it must be able to recruit and retain talented employees. The arts and other cultural resources contribute to a vibrant community – one where people want to be!

Creating a vibrant community should be a top priority in any area’s economic development efforts. Likely gone is the old model of building a stadium or other public venue with public money. Many of these efforts haven't created high paying jobs or spurred innovation and entrepreneurship – vibrant communities have!

The value of arts and culture in economic development can be summed up in three words: "recruit and retain."

Keep these words in mind as you build and strengthen your partnerships with business.

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