New Bedford has attracted hundreds of creative entrepreneurs who are making a significant impact on the city’s overall economy with their individual creativity, skill and talent. The unique products, content and designs they produce make up the creative economy.

 

What is the Creative Economy?
The term “Creative Economy” is used to describe enterprises and people that stimulate economic growth through creative ideas, products and services. The creative economy is made up of both nonprofit and commercial organizations, as well as individual artists, designers and performers.
 
Creative Economy Quick Facts (gleaned from New England Foundation for the Arts 2007)

  • Massachusetts has 15.5% more cultural workers and 23.5% more artists than the national average.
  • The creative cluster supports 245,000 jobs in New England.
  • Unemployment rate among cultural workers is 2% lower than the overall Massachusetts unemployment rate.

Why Attract a Creative Community?  
The creative community generates income by attracting an affluent population which takes advantage of products and services generated by the creative community. This propagates to all sectors of the economy through the purchase of secondary goods and services by both the creators and the consumers of the creative economy. New Bedford has the requisite critical mass of artists and cultural institutions along with rich mill building resources ready for repurposing for artist studios and creative enterprise work spaces.  
 
Creative Economy Development
The City of New Bedford and the New Bedford Economic Development Council recognize the creative enterprises as an economic driver of the city. The New Bedford Economic Development Council is committed to providing creative economy stakeholders with the tool kits, strategies and policy structure necessary to guide New Bedford’s emergence as the cultural center of southeastern Massachusetts.
 
AHA! -- A Creative Economy Success Story
AHA! (art, history and architecture) is an arts and culture program that has acted as a catalyst for downtown New Bedford’s economic development for the past decade. Held every 2nd Thursday, AHA! has generated nine dollars for every state dollar spent in grant money. The estimated total economic impact of AHA! has increased by 96.8 percent from 2000 to 2008 (inflation-adjusted dollars). The project began in 1999 with 14 partners – now there are 60 partners. The program boasts over 120 successful AHA! nights. The results has been a revitalized downtown core that has become the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s leading example of the impact the creative economy can have on the revitalization of a community.
 
Contact:
Office of the Creative Economy
New Bedford Economic Development Council
1213 Purchase Street
New Bedford, MA 02740
508.991.3122
www.nbedc.org