The Creative Economy Initiative

The North Shore, with Salem at its center, is a thriving region for the creative economy outside of Boston. It is well documented that creative economy workers want to live in an area of great amenities, ocean, history, museums, culture, good restaurants and recreation opportunities as well as conveniences such as location and value for their money. It is a well-known fact that the North Shore has more amenities than any other area of Massachusetts outside of Boston. We know that the creative economy is an important part of the economy North of Boston (2% of the region's overall business activity). Our challenge and opportunity is to make this important segment of regional commerce grow bigger.

The Enterprise Center at Salem State College, in partnership with The Salem Partnership, put together a Task Force on the Creative Economy in 2003. The goal was to make the creative economy an engine for economic development in this region. To this end, in 2004, the Lawrence Eagle Tribune provided us with extensive demographic information about the size and shape of the creative economy in our area. They found, for instance, that in 2003, $1.258 billion came from nearly 1000 creative economy businesses with approximately 6000 employees. Half of whom were clustered in a three-mile radius around Salem. To see the entire study, click here. (pdf)

Charles Landry, author of The Creative City, A Toolkit for Urban Innovation

To accelerate the process of promoting and growing the creative economy, we invited Charles Landry, author of "The Creative City, A Toolkit for Urban Innovation." who met with business, cultural, tourism and government leaders in the lower North Shore - Beverly, Lynn, Peabody, Salem and Marblehead. Mr. Landry is an international expert on helping cities worldwide use culture and history to promote economic development and greater livability. His goal was to help us construct an action plan to bring more creative economy workers and businesses to this area. He spent four days in Salem, touring the area, meeting with groups and individuals, conducted a day workshop for 40 invited people at the Enterprise Center at Salem State College and presented his recommendations at the 2004 Annual Dinner of The Salem Partnership. The Creative Economy Task Force has developed a series of action steps and a timetable based on his recommendations this summer.

What is clear from the extensive meetings with Mr. Landry is that this region embraces the potential of the creative economy and is willing to work collectively to grow businesses, jobs and revenues through the creative economy. To see Mr. Landry's presentation at The Salem Partnership's Annual Dinner, please click here. (ppt)

At the end of his stay in Salem, Charles Landry recommended the following strategic plan:

"You have both already put the idea of the creative economy on the map and the initial research is very helpful in putting forward the advocacy case. In my view, and I know you already have this in mind; there should be a 12-month plan with a set of milestones that every three months has something new to say, but within a strategic framework.. The overarching goal is to make the region a creative hub that has a distinct identity separate from Boston but that also is complimentary to it."

Below are some of Mr. Landry's specific suggestions.

The research needs to be deepened, so that we understand the dynamics of the creative economy in the region. For example, is it growing and if so by how much? Where are the companies trading? Local, regionally, nationally, internationally? Do they think they will grow? Why did they move to the region? What are the benefits and problems?
Assessing how the educational curriculum aligns to the needs of the creative economy.
The end 12-month target might be to do a creative clusters conference.

We took his advice and some of the outcomes have been:

Establishment of a "hotzone" in downtown Salem
Creation of a creative economy incubator within the Salem State Enterprise Center.
7 focus groups (72 members of the Creative Economy) were held from Sept through Nov 2004 to deepen the research as suggested by Mr. Landry. The focus groups final report is as follows: To view the report, click here.

On June 20, 2005 The Creative Economy Association of the North Shore (CEANS) was launched at the Hawthorne Hotel with approximately 250 people in attendance. The goals of this trade association are:

To encourage new Creative Economy Businesses to open on the North Shore
To attract and encourage private and public investors in Creative Economy companies.
To conduct research to define and measure the Creative Economy in more depth.
To encourage cooperative efforts among Creative Economy businesses
To provide educational and support programs directed to the needs of Creative Economy businesses.
To educate the public and the business community about Creative Economy businesses
To provide a forum for those involved in or with Creative Economy businesses

One year later, CEANS is an organization with over 100 members that runs seminars, workshops and networking opportunities on a monthly basis. For additional information please visit the CEANS website at www.ceans.org

On May 3, 2006, Massachusetts held its first ever-statewide conference on the Creative Economy. The conference entitled

"The Innovation Agenda, Growing the Creative Economy in Massachusetts" was held at Salem's Hawthorne Hotel and Peabody Essex Museum. It attracted over 200 thought leaders from around the state, and engaged them in a wide-ranging discussion on the importance of and need for economic development at the nexus of creativity and technology.

The Innovation Agenda Sponsors: The Salem Partnership, the Enterprise Center at Salem State College, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the John Adams Innovation Institute

The Conference was sponsored by four leading organizations. Specifically, The Salem Partnership; the Enterprise Center at Salem State College; The Massachusetts Cultural Council and the John Adams Innovation Institute, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The major goal of the sponsors was to create a common agenda on how Massachusetts can expand both the innovation and creative economies. The end result of this work will be the development of a strategic plan on how to use the innovation and the creative economies to further economic development in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This plan will be distributed to key government officials, major business leaders, venture capitalists, foundations and economic development professionals in the innovation and creative economy. For a copy of the strategic plan, please contact Patricia Zaido at pzaido@salempartnership.org

Summary of the Conference

The attendees were welcomed to Salem by Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and heard opening remarks from legislative leaders including Senate Majority Leader Frederick E. Berry. It was through the effort of Senator Berry that initial funding was obtained for the conference.

Professor Edward L. Glaeser: the Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker was Professor Edward L. Glaeser, Kennedy School ofÃÂ Government, Harvard University. Professor Glaeser spoke on the determinants of city growth, the role of cities as centers of idea transmission and the opportunities that are unique to Massachusetts to grow its creative economy. He was a dynamic and knowledgeable speaker who set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

The keynote address was followed by a panel discussion made up of thought leaders who discussed the economic profile and impact of innovation and creativity in both Massachusetts and the country at large and explored new ways to grow the Massachusetts economy through the convergence of culture and technology. The leaders were; Michael Goodman, Director of Economic and Public Policy Research, Donahue Institute, University of Mass at Amherst; Dan Monroe, CEO, Peabody Essex Museum; John Schneider, Vice-President of MassInc. and Beth Segal, President of Mt. Auburn Associates. The Moderator was George Donnelly, Editor of the Boston Business Journal.

There were six workshops, two offered in each time slot. Attendees were able to attend three of the workshops offered. The six workshops were:

City Futures: Knowledge workers like to live and work in areas with high levels of culture, history and beauty. These preferences make many Massachusetts cities particularly enticing. Mayors from four Massachusetts cities discussed how they have used the nexus of technology and culture to revive their inner cities, attract new residents and businesses, increase tax revenue and re-energize their downtowns. The Mayors were the Hon. Scott Lang of New Bedford, the Hon. Timothy Murray of Worcester, the Hon. James Ruberto of Pittsfield and the Hon. Kimberly Driscoll of Salem.
Investment Opportunities in Innovation: A panel of early stage venture investors discussed investment opportunities in the innovation and creative economy, from the R&D sector to entertainment, publishing, design and more. The panelists were: Eliot Katzman, Kodiak Venture Partners; David Ives, CEO, North Shore International Insurance Service; Dan Primack, columnist,"Private Equity Week" and Doug Redding, VIMAC Ventures LLC. The moderator was Ranch Kimball, Secretary of Economic Development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Communications Revolution: The amazing breakthroughs in communication are changing the way we all live. From the iPod and its ability to download content and programming anytime, anywhere, to AVID systems that revolutionized the video industry, to Monster, which has changed the way we search for jobs, we are in the midst of a true communication revolution. This panel discussed how companies generate breakthroughs and explored ways to make opportunities available to Massachusetts companies in the future. The panelists were: Mark Minelli, Principal of Minelli Associates, Tony Kahn, Producer/Director WGBH Radio Morning Stories program and Carolyn Wall, President of Narrowstep. Karen Andreas, Executive Editor of the Lawrence Eagle Tribune Publishing Co., was the moderator.
Innovative New Markets: Being creative often means taking a traditional product or service and reinventing it. Four cutting edge Massachusetts companies discussed how they recognized new opportunities and used technology to open up new markets for their traditional products. Panelists were: Rebecca Blunk, Executive Director, New England Foundation for the Arts; Lisa Chamberlain, Managing Partner, Chamberlain Group; May Kelley, Director, Massachusetts Cultural Council; Mark Richey, President, Mark Richey Woodworking and Design. Vicki Donlan, Publisher, "Women's Business Boston" was the moderator.
Incubating New Ideas: The heart and soul of innovation and creativity is new ideas that turn into new products and services. This panel focused on those in the forefront of new ideas development. Participants heard how leading edge organizations generate new ideas and how Massachusetts can capitalize on those ideas. The panelists were; George Fifield, Boston Cyberarts; Robert Krim Ph.D., Founder, Boston History and Innovation Collaborative and Connie Williams, Synectics. The moderator was Nan Doyle, Associate Vice-President, and Museum of Science.
Growing Regions: This session focused on the growth of regions using the innovation economy and/ or the creative economy. Participants learned how regions from Cape Cod, to the Merrimack Valley and the North Shore have used their strengths to generate economic development for their region. Panelists were; Robert Halpin, Director of the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council; Wendy Northcross, CEO, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and Christine Sullivan, Executive Director of the Enterprise Center at Salem State College. Alison Berglund, Director of the Office of Small Business & Entrepreneurship for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was the moderator.

The final plenary session was an open discussion with Lieutenant Governor Healey, Representative Daniel Bosley, Chair, Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and Representative Eric Turkington, Chair, joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, Tom Dusenberry, CEO, Dusenberry Entertainment a leading businessman in the creative economy and Joseph Thompson, President of MassMOCA.The moderator was John Schneider, Vice-President of MassInc.

The Conference ended with a reception in East India Hall at the Peabody Essex Museum. Further information on the conference can be found at www.creativeeconomy.us

Following the conference a final report and action plan was developed and this can also be found on www.creativeeconomy.us.

In April 2007, Charles Landry was invited back to Massachusetts. On the morning of April 12, 2007, Representative Daniel Bosley (chair of the House Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies) welcomed key legislators and key players in the Creative Economy Initiative to the Omni Parker House in Boston. He announced that legislation would be filed calling for a Creative Economy Council that would move the action plan that grew out of the state-wide conference held in Salem in May 2006 forward. Charles Landry spoke at the breakfast, urging all present to utilize this important sector to further economic development across the Commonwealth. This breakfast was sponsored by The Salem Partnership and The Enterprise Center at Salem State College.

That afternoon, Mr. Landry gave a presentation entitled "Creative Economy Initiative World-Wide" followed by a book signing of his latest book, "The Art of City Making." The lecture, booksigning and reception was sponsored by CEANS (The Creative Economy Association of the North Shore).

On Friday, April 13, 2007, Mr. Landry was the guest of Salem State College. He gave a workshop to approximately 70 educators on "Creativity Can Be Learned: Essential Skills for Global Competitiveness."

Recently funding was obtained through the efforts of Senator Frederick E. Berry and Representative John D. Keenan to further the creative economy initiative on the North Shore that has been championed by The Salem Partnership and The Enterprise Center at Salem State College. These funds will be used to deepen the research needed and to further the efforts of CEANS.