Developing the State’s ‘Creative Class’
Written by Jason Keeling on June 16, 2007
West Virginia’s economic condition is arguably its greatest challenge. The public sector (i.e., government) often provides the best job opportunities, while private sector growth remains modest. The Charleston Daily Mail has reported that county school systems are the largest employers in 34 of our 55 counties, with Wal-Mart close behind.
In 2000, the state established West Virginia: A Vision Shared, bringing together citizens, business leaders, and government officials “to identify the major issues that must be addressed in West Virginia and the goals to be achieved to create a positive future for the state.” There are several working groups within Vision Shared, focusing on topics such as taxation, education, image improvement, and relevant to this post is the “creative class” working group.
The “creative class” is a term coined by Richard Florida in his 2004 book “The Rise of the Creative Class,” which discusses the explosion of “new economy” type jobs based on technology, intellectual capital, and the creative arts. Florida expounds not only on these type jobs, but also on the characteristics of places that draw such companies and workers.
On June 25 (Charleston, Clay Center, 11:00 a.m.) learn how a new generation of entrepreneurs, researchers, educators and artists are working to shape our economic future, with the whitepaper release of “Culture, Creativity and Innovation: West Virginia in the New Economy.” The whitepaper has been designed to open a statewide conversation about developing West Virginia’s “creative class” and the economic significance of doing so. The corresponding www.createwv.com Web site will be released as well. Here’s the white paper introduction (PDF).
Posted in Business, Culture, Economy, Tourism, West Virginia
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June 19th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Thanks for the boost in communicating with the state’s entrepreneurial rocknrollers. Lets hope they turn out in force at 11 a.m. Monday, June 25 at the Clay Center’s Walker Theater, proving that not everyone here is in a state of rigor mortis…
June 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Thanks for introducing West Virginians to Richard Florida and the philosophy of the creative class. Hopefully the creative class that currently resides in WV will soon be empowered and treasured as a natural resource that is positive rather than destructive…
June 25th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Justin, nice job at the conference and with promoting West Virginia.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I am interested in furthering the dialogue of the white paper release by CreateWV. In reading page two of Culture, Creativity, and Innovation: West Virginia in the New Economy, Introduction Excerpt, “New economy workers, often referred to as the “Creative Class,” are highly mobile and tend to cluster in areas that have high levels of talent/educational levels, tolerance/diversity, and technology access and usage; because many can live and work anywhere they want, they focus on the “quality of place” to determine their preferred location,” I reminded myself of a report I read last year presented by Roger Smith and Mark Muchow of the Department of Revenue, West Virginia for the Tax Modernization Project.
In this report, the authors write summary conclusions on page eight, “Low per capita economic output & limited real property tax greatly constrain ability to fund government services…demand for government services is higher than average due to demographics, economic conditions and price signals…most services financed at the State level…stretched finances contribute to unfunded liabilities, an uncompetitive tax structure & a weaker economy.” The report goes onto page nine with West Virginia’s Vital Statistics: “47th in per capita income, 50th in retail sales per household, 47th in average home price, 50th in employment as % of population, 50th in population under 18, and highest median age – 40.”
These dismal statistics of the reality of the State of West Virginia paint a portrait that our state is in need of an injection of fresh talent, diversity, and educational attainment for our younger generations. I have read the proposals in the full-length white paper by CreateWV, and I think there are many recommendations that warrant further exploration such as: