This is the third year we've attempted to help West Virginia adopt a modern, entrepreneurial approach to economic development by emphasizing the growth of our "new" economy based on innovation.
(NOTE: Apologies for the poor formatting on this post, our blog site is having some issues)
The Creative Communities Pilot Program, Senate Bill 227, is now being considered by the WV Legislature. It requires the WV Commerce Development Office to manage a small matching grants program to support communities who develop their own local new economy plan and projects. You can read the details of the bill at: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/ (enter SB227 in the search window)
Will this be the year it passes? That's up to us...and you! Below are key talking points to learn and use as you call and email your local Delegates (it's already passed the Senate):
Development of the creative class is becoming a well-established strategy for building growth in small towns and rural America. States such as Maryland, Minnesota, Maine, Vermont and Nebraska – all with substantial small town/rural populations – have used a program like this very successfully:
The Creative Class: A Key to Rural Growth http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/April07/Features/Creative.htm
Vermont program: http://vtrural.org/webfm_send/83
Why some states are “new economy” states: http://www.progressivefix.com/why-some-states-are-%E2%80%9Cnew-economy%E...
The rural growth trifecta: outdoor amenities, creative class and entrepreneurial context - http://joeg.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/05/12/jeg.lbq007.abstr...
And also: http://www.creativeclass.com/creative_class/2010/06/28/the-creative-clas...
The USDA is championing this approach and has opened up funding sources for rural/small communities. See http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/38102/1/IND44318667.pdf
The bill is written so that very small counties can band together to be eligible for larger grant options; but regardless, the funding level for a small community can go a long way in sparking a new economy initiative such as the development of rural entrepreneurs.
Right here in WV we have seen small communities take a creative communities approach to business development and become extremely successful with it.
Note that this is not just “arts” – this is an overall creative, cultural approach to becoming more attractive to both tourists and entrepreneurs who want to live in an appealing area to start their business. Some of West Virginia’s most notable “creative communities” are small:
Lewisburg (Greenbrier County)
Fayetteville (Fayette County)
Shepherdstown (Jefferson County)
Spencer (Roane County)
Some of the most active “Create” teams are in rural communities: Create Pocahontas, Create Fayetteville, Create Mercer County, Create Buckhannon. All are taking an aggressive approach to building new economic activity in their regions based on this approach. Other communities have been coming to the Create WV conference for the last four years (Pendleton, Gilmer, etc.) and are building their local plans to take advantage of this program.
Why the New/Creative Economy?
Growing faster as a % of overall workforce (over 1/3 of U.S. jobs now – ¼ of WV jobs). Includes not just “creative” industries of art/culture/media, but also all intellectual-property related jobs in design, engineering, scientific research, technology, education/training services, etc.
Projected by Workforce WV to grow much faster in WV (12% through 2014 vs. declines in manufacturing and mining)
Pay much more average salary – up to 2x those of service industry and 1.5x manufacturing (U.S. Census)
Where has this Worked? What is Going on Now?
Top Creative Communities in WV: Lewisburg, Berkeley Springs, Shepherdstown, Fayetteville, Buckhannon, Elkins, Charleston , Morgantown, Huntington
Creative Community Examples Across the U.S.
Peoria, Illinios - (home of Caterpillar Equipment) who has invested in a $35 million innovation center in the heart of their downtown
Corvallis, Oregon who has launched a comprehensive “Prosperity that Fits” initiative involving a number of public/private partnerships
Fargo, North Dakota who is reaching beyond state boundaries with neighboring Morehead, Minnesota to create a regional center for innovation.
Maryland – Matching grant program that this program was based on; art zones (Cumberland, MD); Michigan – Cool Cities program; Maine – very aggressive new/creative economy program
Just a Few Examples of New Economy Companies and Organizations in West Virginia:
Note that many new promising creative/new economy companies are located in small town or rural areas of West Virginia. As long as there is reliable broadband, there is potential for growing a new economy business:
Protea Bio - proteabio.com (Morgantown)
Threewide Corp - www.listhub.net (Morgantown)
Bambeco – bambeco.com (Hardy County)
beBetter Health – bebetter.net (Charleston)
PracticeLink – practicelink.com (Hinton)
WELD – www.weldtheweb.com (Oak Hill)
Matterhorn Marketing – www.matterhornmarketing.com (Fayetteville)
Vandalia Research - vandaliaresearch.com (Huntington)
Marshall University Forensic Science Center - forensics.marshall.edu (Huntington)
Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute - brni.org (Morgantown)
WV Wesleyan Extended Learning Center - .wvwc.edu/extendedlearning (Buckhannon)
C.J. Maggies - cj-maggies.com (Buckhannon)
MountainMade – mountainmade.com (Thomas)
RiffRaff Arts Collective - theriffraff.net (Princeton)
Mountain Stage – mountainstage.org (Charleston)
What is a Creative Community? Why are Creative Communities required?
Creative Communities take an entrepreneurial, innovation-based approach to community and economic development. It begins with attracting and retaining talent who play the role of business and social builders in the community.
Richard Florida, Creative Class research. Latest book Who’s Your City? covers how professionals make a decision on where to live. “So there's a trade-off we have to make between furthering our career and finding a lifestyle that fits us. Being economically mobile can mean you sacrifice all the rootedness in family relations.”
If talent is the natural resource for the new economy, and that talent is highly mobile and able to live wherever they want, our communities must have an attraction strategy
Entrepreneurship/small business delivered the vast majority of new job growth through the past 10 years (Kauffman Foundation)
Examples in WV:
WELD/Lights On (Fayette County), PracticeLink.com (Hinton), beBetter Networks (Charleston) – Located where they are due to quality of life issues/attractors
Built on education, technology, diversity and quality of place. ART/CULTURE – artists transform a community and attract investment, other industries
Many college graduates choose where they want to live first, then look for a job (Selecting an Organization: How College Graduates Choose a Job, Michigan State University)
Communities must choose for themselves if they want to embrace this approach to growth.
Where Does West Virginia Stand Today?
Tech – Lower quintile on all major tech factors, including broadband availability, PC ownership, IT jobs, e-government services.
Diversity – Least diverse state in the nation; major image issues re: tolerance and inclusion (Democratic primary, racial incidents in 2007-2008)
Education – Lowest % of adults with college education (#1 in K12 use of tech in schools)
Quality of Place – Several towns on “Top 10” lists for quality communities – Lewisburg, Berkeley Springs, Fayetteville, Morgantown. This is our core strength and we can build from it.
What is Create WV? What Do You Do? What is the Impact?
Create WV is a volunteer group associated with Vision Shared. We’re dedicated to helping build creative communities for the new economy in West Virginia. We are seeking 501c3 non-profit status in order to pursue large national foundation and Federal grants to continue this work. Stay up to date at www.createwv.com.
Tactics: 1) empowering communities through training, hands-on planning support, consulting; 2) working at the state level to advocate for policies and programs to grow our new economy; 3) promote West Virginia as a great state to create today
Create WV Conference has attracted over 1,200 WV community attendees during the last four training conferences; local community workshops in over 20 counties
Local “Create” teams have been formed in Huntington, Mercer, Fayette, Pocahontas, Upshur, Marion Counties , with more coming (Pendleton)
About the Creative Communities Development Pilot Program – Senate Bill 549
Complements Bucks for Brains and other existing econ dev programs by developing communities where entrepreneurs, artists and company leaders actually want to locate
Rewards local innovation and initiative – those communities that are developing real plans around real, innovative projects will be rewarded and incented to find supporting investment
Introduces a more innovation-based, entrepreneurial approach to economic development vs. the existing industrial park/traditional approach
Rewards communities who work together across a county, metro government or region
Rewards communities who partner with a university or college
More Information:
www.createwv.com – Download the white paper on Creativity, Culture and Innovation: West Virginia in the New Economy
www.creativeclass.com – Richard Florida’s research site and blog
Contacts:
Jeff James, Chair, Creative Communities Team of Vision Shared – 304.346.2230 ext 101#, jeffj@mythologymarketing.com
Julie Terry, President, Vision Shared, president@visionshared.com
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