Study shows that art pumps money into local economy

“The positive impact is seen valley-wide”

If you think it’s nice to go an Alpenglow event in Crested Butte or a Sundays @ 6 concert in Gunnison, you are right. But it’s nice in more ways than one. It’s not just about listening to music on a sweet summer’s evening. It’s about business.

For the second time in five years, a dozen arts organizations in Gunnison County took part in a national study measuring the economic prosperity impact that comes as a result of the arts. It’s not small.
“The arts really do mean business for our community,” said Arts Alliance chairperson and Crested Butte Center for the Arts executive director Jenny Birnie.
The basic numbers from the 2010 study show that close to $7 million is generated as a result of arts and cultural activity in the valley. The arts organizations themselves spend $3.4 million each year; that then leverages another $3.5 million in additional spending by arts and cultural audiences. That’s money that goes into local restaurants, hotels and other businesses.
In terms of employment, 171 “full-time equivalent” jobs are created. That includes individual full-time and several part-time positions that add up to full-time positions.
“These arts organizations have a lot of impact in the county,” said Birnie. “Think about the people who make wages from the arts. They give visitors alternatives when they are here. Some of the events are the draw that brings people here. Being a tourism–based economy, the arts are obviously a big part of that base.”
The study indicates that while local residents attend roughly two-thirds of the cultural events, it is the visitors and second homeowners who pay the most and pump money into the economy through the arts. While residents have an impact of $19.47 per person, non-residents spend closer to $73 each. Overall, that translates into $1,111,340 coming into the arts from residents and $2,418,633 being generated directly from those who don’t live in the county on a year-round basis.
“Think about how important those visitors and second homeowners are to us,” Birnie said. “Without them, the quantity and quality of the arts we have available in the valley wouldn’t be able to exist.”
It is obvious that small local businesses understand the importance of the arts to the community. Birnie said small businesses all regularly support the arts either through in-kind contributions or with monetary donations. “We might need something small when making a repair to the Center and we use the local store,” explained Birnie. “When people go out to a show, they’ll stop at a restaurant for a dinner or a drink. Everyone gets how important the trickle-down impact is. It is very real and this study confirms that. That is why we try to help them. It is rough for every business around here in the off-season.
“To that effect, we try to extend the season,” Birnie continued. “Look at what a great response the Crested Butte Film Festival received in its inaugural year last September. It was phenomenal and helped boost the economy in a normally slow time.”
Crested Butte Mayor Aaron Huckstep agrees that a growing art scene in the valley directly helps the economy. “Crested Butte’s arts and cultural events play a significant and growing part in supporting our local recreation economy. This is evident on any Alpenglow Monday in Crested Butte, when cars line the entrance to town and Town Park is packed with people celebrating in the park. The Arts Festival this weekend will be another great example of how the arts can have a positive impact upon the local economy,” he said.
“The town has a long history of supporting the arts in a variety of ways,” he continued, “including some financial support for a recent expansion of the Arts Festival to incorporate some of our local bridges. This type of support is an important priority for me personally, as the arts help to contribute to our town’s economic sustainability.”
The same holds true in Mt. Crested Butte, according to Mayor William Buck. “Arts and cultural events are key in providing a balance to our community in that it engages us in ways that recreation in general does not. It does so by providing an uncommon look into the world around us. I would consider arts and cultural development to be a high priority. In terms of economic impact I’ll point to the Crested Butte Music Festival as a prime example. Over the years the Music Festival has grown tremendously and brought vibrancy to Mt. Crested Butte with musicians and artists residing in our town during their summer festival tour.
“The positive economic impact is seen valley-wide in rentals, purchases, additional stays and positive word of mouth,” Buck continued. “Local jobs have been maintained where without these organizations I suspect more jobs would have been lost.”
Huckstep feels the same connection. “Historically, the link between the arts and job creation or economic growth is principally anecdotal. On Alpenglow Mondays, Le Bosquet typically sees higher demand in their restaurant, as do many other restaurants in town. More important than this, though, is the role that arts and cultural events play in building a fan club for our town and our community as a whole. Great experiences at Crested Butte events lead to return visits, and hopefully a full year of word-of-mouth marketing to friends and families,” said Huckstep.
The arts organizations also draw in a huge amount of volunteer contributions. During the 2010 study period, 651 volunteers donated 15,143 hours to the participating nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. That amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars in time spent helping the arts. In-kind contributions to the 12 organizations amounted to $450,575.
One of the nuggets of the report showed that a quarter of those who attended cultural events in Gunnison County would have traveled out of the county to go to a similar event if it wasn’t offered here. The report states, “If a community does not provide a variety of artistic and cultural experiences, it will fail to attract the new dollars of cultural tourists. It will also lose the discretionary spending of its local residents, who will travel elsewhere to experience the arts.”
The Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit advancing the arts in America, compiled the report. Gunnison County was one of 182 regions studied. For more details on the study, visit crestedbuttearts.org.