FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marchelle Smith 517-485-5419
Lansing, East Lansing and Michigan State University
to Unveil Plan for Creating Jobs through Arts and Culture
LANSING, Oct. 9, 2009-A plan to make greater Lansing the Midwest's most welcoming destination for artists and creative entrepreneurs will be released on Monday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center.
Developed by a core group of local leaders including representatives from the cities of Lansing and East Lansing, Michigan State University, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the State of Michigan, the "Cultural Economic Development Plan for Greater Lansing's Urban Center" is a blueprint detailing the use of arts and culture for economic development.
"After receiving input from local leaders, creative businesses, community organizations and residents, we understand the key is to encourage creative entrepreneurship while emphasizing the influence of arts and culture on our quality of life. By connecting existing economic initiatives with a growing rank of creative entrepreneurs, we can create jobs and build on a thriving arts and cultural scene in greater Lansing," Arts Council Executive Director Leslie Donaldson said.
The plan outlines several action steps, such as providing creative entrepreneurs and artists access to business development tools to support their businesses; creating an annual creative entrepreneur award to recognize outstanding innovators, inventors, artists and designers; and developing a central web portal that directs creative entrepreneurs and artists to entrepreneurial training and resources, to name a few.
"From the State Capitol to East Lansing and Michigan State University, with Michigan Avenue and the Grand/Red Cedar Rivers connecting the two cities, it makes sense to concentrate our collaborative efforts on a solid cultural economic development plan that can act as a model throughout the region," said Marchelle Smith, special projects director, Lansing Economic Development Corp.
"A vital, culturally-rich, creative and economically diverse environment attracts and retains workers, business owners and makes residents proud," said Lori Mullins, community and economic development administrator for the City of East Lansing. "We are collaborating to help greater Lansing's urban center become a business destination and the core of a thriving arts, entertainment and knowledge economy."
The CED Plan was created with the assistance of Creative Community Builders, a consulting firm that specializes in helping integrate culture and creativity in community and economic development.
With a plan in place, the partners are working to identify funding to move these initiatives forward. Although these are challenging economic times, it has never been more vital to
create a vibrant sense of place using the area's arts and cultural assets.
The public is invited to attend the presentation of the plan at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road. For more information, or to view a copy of the plan, contact Marchelle Smith at 517-485-5419 or email at mcsmith@lansingmi.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bob Trezise, Lansing EDC
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 517/483-4151
Even in Tough Times, Lansing Area Economic Output Gaining Ground
New Report Shows Lansing Among State's
Best in GDP Growth Since 2005
(LANSING) - The Lansing Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) reported today that the Lansing area recently placed in the top three regions in Michigan in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth since 2005 through 2008. According to statistics recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Lansing's GDP growth was slightly behind Kalamazoo, on par with Battle Creek, and well ahead of Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.
"This is empirical evidence that our strategy for growing Lansing's economy is working," said LEDC President and CEO Bob Trezise. "Even in these challenging economic times, Lansing continues to shine as one of the few regions in Michigan that are winning the battle for new jobs and new investments."
"Though times are certainly hard and too many people and businesses are hurting, we have to acknowledge the steady growth in the economic output of the Lansing area," said Bo Garcia, Chairman of the LEDC Board of Directors. "Not only did Lansing advance each year of measurement over the last four years, but GDP in Lansing actually increased 2.75% from 2007 to 2008 when almost everyone else declined. The city's economic development policies, our aggressive use of incentives to encourage new job-creating investments and, most importantly, the strength of our diverse business community, have put Lansing on the leading edge of economic recovery," Garcia said.
The recently released data reports 9.2% growth in GDP between 2005 and 2008 in the Lansing area. As a comparison across the state, the strongest GDP growth was found in Kalamazoo with an 11.2% increase, followed by Lansing and Battle Creek at 9.2%. Grand Rapids was at 5.5% and Ann Arbor at 3.2%. From a Midwest region perspective, Madison, WI saw a 14.2% increase, Indianapolis grew by 11.6% and Cleveland by 6.4%. Many cities experienced GDP decreases over the same period of time.
Trezise noted that a detailed analysis of the data for the Lansing region shows that the IT sector was down in 2005, but has increased sharply and steadily since the beginning of 2006. The financial industry made major gains as well, especially since 2007, dominating the region's overall GDP growth. Retail was flat with slight gains. Manufacturing increased modestly until 2007 and then declined slightly into 2008.
"We still have plenty of work to do as a city and as a region, but I am truly energized by the continued affirmation that we are on the right track in growing and diversifying our local economy," Trezise said. "Over the last four years we have leveraged more than a half-billion dollars in new private investment that will create 4000 new jobs in Lansing. This is a major achievement all by itself, but the story within the story is that we are succeeding in diversifying the Lansing regional economy to include strong growth in IT, financial services and biotech, and we are making it happen in all corners of the city, not just downtown."
###
|
|
ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER LANSING 1208 Turner Street Lansing, MI 48906 (517) 372-4636 phone (517) 484-2564 fax www.lansingarts.org |
MEDIA CONTACT: Leslie Donaldson Executive Director (517) 372-4636
|
October 5, 2009
MEDIA ADVISORY
Local Leaders to Release
Cultural Economic Development Plan Oct. 12
Lansing, Mich. - Cultural and economic leaders from Greater Lansing's urban core have created a new Cultural Economic Development Plan to guide economic growth and community revitalization through creative entrepreneurship and other arts and cultural opportunities.
Who:
The plan was developed by representatives from the City of Lansing Economic Development Corporation, City of East Lansing, Michigan State University, State of Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, Michigan State Housing Development Authority, and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing.
What:
The Cultural Economic Development Plan:
- Identifies cultural assets, opportunities and needs
- Defines a manageable set of cultural economic development goals
- Builds collaborations among multiple assets and sectors
- Physically and virtually connects Lansing, East Lansing and MSU
- Recommends actions to develop partnerships and the cultural sector's capacity to contribute to the economy
When:
October 12, 2009
7 p.m.
Where:
East Lansing Hannah Community Center
819 Abbott Road
For more information, please contact Leslie Donaldson at (517) 372-4636 or email cedplanning@gmail.com
