How Arts and Culture Drive Economic Development in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

November 9, 2015

Photo courtesy of Rock Lititz

Photo courtesy of Rock Lititz

When an Artist decides to go on tour, they have many decisions to make – where will they rehearse, what venues will they play, how elaborate will their performance/staging be, what equipment will they use in order to create their vision, and where will they pro-cure these goods and services. Like any business, there are countless strategic
decisions to make. Fortunately, many of the services that help create a live event as well as many of the venues that hold live events are located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Rock Lititz, a Pennsylvania-based partnership between the world’s largest sound and staging companies, is focused on helping the Artist’s team make decisions that will positively impact economic development in Pennsylvania (i.e., jobs) by driving more design, manufacturing, and rehearsal business as well as more shows to the Commonwealth.

Photos courtesy of Rock Lititz NONPROFIT ARTS & CULTURE SECTOR RECOVERING FROM RECESSION DESPITE DECLINES IN CONTRIBUTED INCOME 2015 Portfolio: Cultural Across Communities is the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s first national report, covering the activities of 5,502 organizations in 11 metros: Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Twin Cities & Washington DC. Collectively, these communities employ 906,000 through paid and volunteer positions and pump $13 billion annually into the economy. The communities examined have 23.7% of the total population of the nation. The report relies on data from the Cultural Data Project and is supported by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The report reveals that, overall, cultural regions across the country are on the road to recovery from the Great Reces-sion, with revenue, attendance and net assets all increas-ing from 2009-2012. Nonprofit arts & culture organizations were also able to rebuild savings and investments, increas-ing net assets 7.6% and endowments 13.7%. Profit mar-gins in aggregate were also positive, with a slim aggregate surplus of 3.2% in the most recent fiscal year of the report (2012). “There are clear signs that the arts, museums, and the broad spectrum of cultural nonprofits have been able to navigate past the recession—increasing audiences and building revenues,” said Maud Lyon, President, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “But progress is fragile. To remain relevant and viable, it is clear we need to engage the next generation of donors and audiences.” For more

Photo courtesy of Rock Lititz

Rock Lititz is a 96-acre production campus designed around the Live Events industry. With the ad-vent of digital music, live performances are more important than ever, both financially for the artist and the audiences who attend them. Uniting various creative resources, the collaboration promoted by Rock Lititz strives to generate a one-of-a-kind community that will push live events to the next level. From design, engineering, manufacturing through production rehearsals and beyond, Rock Lititz en-compasses every step of the production process. Anchored by the largest, strongest rehearsal space in the world, the Rock Lititz Studio joins Clair Global, Tait Towers and other industry leaders in calling Pennsylvania their home.

Photos courtesy of Rock Lititz NONPROFIT ARTS & CULTURE SECTOR RECOVERING FROM RECESSION DESPITE DECLINES IN CONTRIBUTED INCOME 2015 Portfolio: Cultural Across Communities is the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s first national report, covering the activities of 5,502 organizations in 11 metros: Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Twin Cities & Washington DC. Collectively, these communities employ 906,000 through paid and volunteer positions and pump $13 billion annually into the economy. The communities examined have 23.7% of the total population of the nation. The report relies on data from the Cultural Data Project and is supported by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The report reveals that, overall, cultural regions across the country are on the road to recovery from the Great Recession, with revenue, attendance and net assets all increas-ing from 2009-2012. Nonprofit arts & culture organizations were also able to rebuild savings and investments, increas-ing net assets 7.6% and endowments 13.7%. Profit mar-gins in aggregate were also positive, with a slim aggregate surplus of 3.2% in the most recent fiscal year of the report (2012). “There are clear signs that the arts, museums, and the broad spectrum of cultural nonprofits have been able to navigate past the recession—increasing audiences and building revenues,” said Maud Lyon, President, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “But progress is fragile. To remain relevant and viable, it is clear we need to engage the next generation of donors and audiences.” For more

Photos courtesy of Rock Lititz

On Wednesday, November 18th, we look forward to sharing our industry’s story with you and your colleagues so you can see first-hand how the Live Events industry has evolved over the past decade, and how it can be the catalyst behind many new and exciting economic development opportunities throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For more information on Rock Lititz visit http://rocklititz.com/.