Welcome to Arts and Econ 101 – MCPAC version
I often remind community members that arts organizations are solid economic contributors in their communities. This month, I am backing that up with some recent data we have started working with.
I am sure many of you are familiar with Americans for the Arts, the leading arts and culture advocates in the country. Roughly 30 years ago, AFTA embarked on a project to quantify the economics benefits of arts and culture. The most recent update is called Arts and Economic Prosperity 6. AEP 6 provides detailed findings on 373 regions from across all 50 states, ranging in population from 4,000 to 4 million – representing rural, suburban, and large urban communities. Audience members at my former facility in Tennessee provided data for that regions contributions to the study.
The national combined results are staggering. Arts and culture organizations generated $151.7 billion in economic activity in 2022—$73.3 billion in spending by arts organizations and an additional $78.4 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences. They support 2.6 million jobs, providing $101 billion in personal income, and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue.
Our Tri-Cities arts organizations did not directly participate in a regional study. However, the cunning minds at AFTA came up with a simple model, allowing any organization to estimate the economic impact of their efforts based on data from comparable regions. The model uses 3 starting criteria – population of the metro area where the organization is located, annual expense budget for the organization, and their annual attendance.
I fed the model our projected numbers for year 3 of the new Center’s operation, taken from our proposal and business plan. Projected 2028 population = 350,000, Expenses = $1.5 M, Attendance = 65,000.
Lo and behold, here are the results it provided in 4 main areas of economic activity – Total Expenditures, Supported Jobs (FT, PT & Seasonal), Household Income, and Local/State/Federal Revenue (taxes).
I know these numbers might require further explanation in a future newsletter, but they clearly demonstrate that the Mid-Columbia Performing Arts Center will have a significant positive economic impact on our community- driving local spending, creating jobs, and enhancing economic vitality. By investing in the arts, we are investing in our community’s future.
If, like me, you want to understand all this in greater details and learn more about all the findings by AEP 6, you can check out www.aep6.americansforthearts.org.
