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CULTURAL COUNCIL ANNOUNCES GREATER JACKSONVILLE CREATIVE ECONOMY $2.4 BILLION IMPACT
Job and Sales Numbers Prove Force of Northeast Florida Cultural Sector
JACKSONVILLE – The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, Inc. is pleased to announce new numbers that tell the exciting story of the creative sector’s impact on the Northeast Florida economy. Cultural Council Executive Director Tony Allegretti stood on the steps of the Florida Blue Plaza at JAX Chamber on Monday, May 11th to make the announcement, joined by representatives from JAX Chamber, elected officials, and directors and members of the creative class.
Each year, the Cultural Council assesses the economic impact of the twenty-one nonprofit organizations designated as Cultural Service Grantees (CSGs). The money granted comes from the City of Jacksonville budget as the official City investment in arts and culture, which figures at .24 of 1% of the total budget or approximately $2.4 million. For this year’s reported numbers, the Cultural Council is pleased to announce that the return on that investment has grown to $70 million from last year’s reported $58 million.
“The growth in the Cultural Service Grantee impact dollars proves that City investment in arts and culture is working,” said Allegretti. “These organizations continue to produce a high level of quality arts and culture programming for pennies on the dollar, and the impact that our city receives in return for that investment is what one might call immeasurable. It goes well beyond the $70 million figure, which in and of itself is stunningly impressive. The Cultural Council is beyond proud to represent these organizations that contribute so positively to our community.”
In addition to the CSG reporting, for the first time this year, the Cultural Council unveiled a comprehensive look at the entire creative economy in the Greater Jacksonville region. Using newly-available data from Creative Vitality™ Suite, the Council provided a big-picture look at job creation and overall sales from the creative industry. The Creative Vitality™ Suite was designed and developed by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF); a regional nonprofit arts service organization, experienced research organization, and developer of technology solutions for the arts.
“We’ve always known that Jacksonville is a world-class city of arts and culture, but this data firmly moves the dial on our local creative economy from optimism to confidence,” Allegretti announced. “I am thrilled to announce, for the first time, that the impact of the creative sector in the Greater Jacksonville region is $2.4 billion.”
The $2.4 billion figure comes from the Creative Vitality™ assessment of the designated arts and culture jobs and sales in the seven-county area; Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Baker, Clay, Putnam, and Flagler counties. Information on how the data is sourced and analyzed is available upon request. The Creative Vitality™ Index aggregates data on a variety of economic factors and provides a summative value that reflects a wide group of variables. The Index as an altogether separate approach to the task of understanding the elements of the creative economy from an economic impact study.
Highlights from the Creative Vitality™ assessment of the Greater Jacksonville region include:
- 26,921 Jobs in the Creative Industries workforce
- From 2010 to 2013 Creative Industry jobs grew 6%
- Fourteen professions showed double digit growth
- Sound engineers showed top growth with an increase of 32.1%
- Photographer is the most common creative occupation with 3,271 jobs
About the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville champions the appreciation, relevance and expression of art and culture. The Council stewards the City of Jacksonville’s annual appropriation to the arts, contributes to economic vitality through art and culture initiatives, and leads advocacy efforts to demonstrate the impact and significance of culture in the community. The Cultural Council is sponsored in part by the City of Jacksonville and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Learn more at www.culturalcouncil.org.
About the Creative Vitality™ Suite
The Creative Vitality™ Suite was designed and developed by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), a regional nonprofit arts service organization, experienced research organization, and developer of technology solutions for the arts. For information on methodology and other notes, visit www.cvsuite.org.
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