Since its inception, Create WV has championed the growth of West Virginia's "creative class." The term "creative" and "class" often confuse people into thinking the initiative is either about a) narrow focus on the arts, or b) an elitist initiative that doesn't relate to ordinary West Virginians. So it's worth repeating the definition originating from researcher Richard Florida. This version is from Wikipedia:
Florida describes the 'Creative Class' as 40 million workers - 30 percent of the U.S. workforce, and breaks the class into two broad sections, derived from standard SOC codes data sets:
Super-Creative Core: This comprises about twelve percent of all U.S. jobs. This group is deemed to contain a wide range of occupations (e.g. science, engineering, education, computer programming, research) with arts, design, and media workers making a small subset. Those belonging to this group are considered to “fully engage in the creative process” (Florida, 2002, p. 69). The Super-Creative Core is considered innovative, creating commercial products and consumer goods. Their primary job function is to be creative and innovative. “Along with problem solving, their work may entail problem finding” (Florida, 2002, p. 69).
Creative Professionals: These professionals are the classic knowledge-based workers and include those working in healthcare, business and finance, the legal sector, and education. They “draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems” using higher degrees of education to do so (2002).
At its core, the "creative class" is the group of workers who make their living creating, improving and managing ideas or intellectual property. In the Create WV initaitive, we focus on how local communities can become "creative communities" that attract, develop and retain the creative class through a commitment to diversity (can't be that innovative if everyone looks and thinks the same), quality of place, education and talent development, and technology (access to and adoption of).
Why all this focus on the creative class and the creative communities required for their existence? Easy. It's their economic and social impact on the rest of us.
We've shared before that creative industry salaries are up to 2X on average higher than other industry sectors, especially compared to service sector (retail, hospitality, tourism, consumer services, etc.) jobs. Jobs in the creative sectors are growing (or in our current economy, at least not delicing) at a far healthier rate. The Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto has recently documented the difference in unemployment rates between different broad industry sectors:
Note how low the creative class unemployment rate has been far lower since tracking begin in the early 70's. This isn't just a temporary blip; creative industry jobs have been at the core of healthy economies for a long time.
It makes sense, doesn't it? Growth requires innovation. Innovation spurs investment, which spurs employment in other sectors such as manufacturing and service industries. West Virginia, by and large, has been a "working class" and "service class" state. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that - except that we chronically suffer from higher unemployment rates and lower wages as a result. We have no strong creative industry, outside of the Morgantown/WVU region, to keep the economy humming in times of economic downturn in manufacturing and energy sectors. This is especially true as it relates to boom/bust cycles in the coal market. We simply must diversify and embrace creative economy growth in order to improve our situation.
Since the creative class of workers and the creative industry sectors do not rely on traditional hard assets from the Industrial Era, you would think that West Virginia would focus on leveraging its natural beauty to attract these industries (and the innovators who drive them) by adding the high-speed connectivity, educational system and cultural amenities to complement our beauty. After all, these folks can basically set up their research, tech, cultural or educational innovation centers anywhere they want. While West Virginia has made some important investments and progress in many areas, we as a state have not quite taken a deep enough dive in this direction. The bottom line: we must attract, develop and grow innovators. What attracts them, we must build, and build quickly.
We're getting there. Awareness is growing. Communities are getting excited about the potential. Note Create Huntington, Create Buckhanon, Create Mercer, Create Pocahontas....others will soon join. If you'd like to learn more and take home ideas and resources for your community, save the date - October 18-20, 2009. That's the date of the 2009 Create WV Conference to be held in Huntington, WV, a community that is energized and committed to building its creative class and new economy. Registration will be open next week. We hope you can join us!
Not Elitist
The fostering of growth of creative communities allows for each place to re-create itself in an era when innovation and critical planning is of the utmost importance. When West Virginia reached its peak population over two million people in the 1960s, there was large viable middle class that promoted the arts, education, and contributed to a bustling economy. This isn't to say that those things aren't as important as they once were, but in many of our towns, such as Wheeling where over half of its peak population has left, there is a struggle to keep places like Capitol Music Hall and other iconic fixtures of the community alive and well. The Creative Community movement in West Virginia aims to allow those places to embrace themselves as only they can do given their individual culture. CreateWV's effort is to revive the cultural fabric for which communities have been noted and again, foster a diaspora of sorts for those who've left.
Sadly, there is an incredible brain drain from our colleges and universities, for instance, to other states nearby where vibrant communities benefit from our citizens. The creative class would not be made up solely of a class of "outsiders". Lord knows we've had enough of those who've come to "help us". Rather, the creative class could be made up of our brilliant children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews who would have loved to have stayed but found the lure of careers (not just jobs) in other places. In so many ways, creative communities are a result of finishing the promise of the "Promise" scholarship. Wouldn't it be nice if our most brilliant sons and daughters stayed here to fulfill that promise.
Creative "place" is more holistic than to just think that "these elitists" move in and take over. If that were to happen, CreateWV would be "elitist". But, CreateWV is attempting to promote a creative class in a non-condescending manner to enrich our communities in the many facets that define the concept of "place", notably in education, the arts, and the economy. There has to be a reversal of the historical phobias that West Virginians have endured concerning the motives of others in order to grow out of social and economic stagnation. Those phobias have become an inherent quality of "being" West Virginian. That's a shame. We have to live, not just talk about, the correlation between risk in reward. The nice thing, there's nothing to lose by promoting creative communities and there are so many benefits for making the effort. As a native West Virginian whose family has been here since the 1750s, I've decided to stay having traveled globally. I've found my niche' at "home". For me, to not promote others to find their's would be selfish.
No creative industry outside of Morgantown
Few perceptions of our state irritate me as much as this one. I guess the work in Hinton, Bridgeport, Huntington and Wheeling are not significant enough to be on the radar of creative communities. If that is so, then I know at least one that should be: Charleston.
In 1920, the Carbide and Carbon Chemical Company, a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), opened the first petrochemical plant in the United States just north of Charleston, West Virginia. The company located its facility in this area in order to use the Kanawha Valley’s ethane-rich natural gas as its primary feedstock. In 1925, it moved its operations to South Charleston, and in 1928, to UCC’s present site on Blaine Island. Also in 1920, the Belle Alkali Company purchased the partially completed mustard gas plant in Belle. Nearby in Belle, the E.I. Dupont de Nemours Company erected the first commercial ammonia plant in 1925. Thus was born the modern chemical industry in the cradle of the Kanawha Valley, in which eventually 286 of the top 500 commodity chemicals were first invented and manufactured.
The former UCC Tech Park is South Charleston alone created over 30,000 patents worth over $18B in value with plants constructed world-wide. Today, MATRIC and a small cadre of technology companies are working to re-create the successes of the past through lab-level research, large demonstrations and job-creating commercialization of globally important energy and environmental technologies.
Also, come to Charleston to find some of the state's most active cultural enterprises--theater, symphony, ballet and visual arts. These are well supported by an arts community that has been focused on weaving a rich fabric of culture throughout our state.
So, please do not discount the creative community in Charleston, which both historically and currently is larger by far than most other regions of West Virginia.
Props to creative economy throughout WV
You make a good point Keith, Morgantown is not the only place you will find the creative class or creative economy in WV. Charleston once had probably one of the highest % of workforce in this category than most cities in the nation.
The mention in the blog about Morgantown's significance was centered on their % of workforce that is in the creative sector...Morgantown's percentage of creative industry workers currently is about equal to Seattle's. Pretty amazing.
The rest of West Virginia, including Charleston, Huntington, etc. has a relatively low % of workforce in this category, and the main point of the blog post is that this must change dramatically if we're to get out of the low 40's in economic rankings. Growing a thriving creative class/creative economy in our largest cities, but also, I believe, in some of our rural areas and smaller counties (you mentioned Hinton...I would add Elkins, Buckhannon, Glenville, etc.)is critical.
NOT an elitist initiative?
"thinking the initiative is either about an elitist initiative that doesn't relate to ordinary West Virginians."
In Rise of the Creative Class, Florida notes (page 71) "The growth of this Service class is in large measure a response to the demands of the Creative Economy. Members of the Creative Class... require a growing pool of low-end service workers to take care of them and do their chores... Some people are temporary members of the Service Class... But many others have no way out and are stuck stuck for life in menial jobs... At its minimum-wage worst, life in the Service Class is a grueling struggle for existence amid the wealth of others."
I can't help but to say that, in a state where so many ordinary West Virginians are already stuck in the service class, this sounds a little elitist to me.
Stuck is the key word
I've worked minimum wage jobs; most people reading this have at one time or another. That a service sector is necessary and exists in life is not an elitist issue -- and by the way, kudos to Anonymous for bothering to define the term.
Florida's point is that a society where people are "stuck" in those jobs is unhealthy. Then one has to ask, why would anyone be stuck there...........
1) Because the larger culture has not embraced an innovative economy where new jobs grow and opportunites beyond minimum wage abound;
2) Because the larger culture has not embraced lifelong learning and a high degree of educational attainment over time that make one eligible for said opportunties;
3) Because the larger culture continues to be threatened by change.
definition of elitism
e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism (ĭ-lē'tĭz'əm, ā-lē'-) n.
The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.
Seems to me that this movement is not inherently elitist unless we assign more value to this "creative class" to the detriment or domination of others. If however, we champion the creative ecnonomy as the creation of more opportunities for all, it can be liberating and beneficial to all. So it's really up to us whether this is elitist or not. I personally don't think it is, but I'm sure there are some who take it that way.
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