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June 12, 2012 Lehigh Valley Arts Council 840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201 Allentown, PA 18101 Tel: 610-437-5915 info@lvartscouncil.org www.LVArtsCouncil.org Lehigh Valley’s Nonprofit Arts and Culture Industry Surpasses $200 Million in Economic Activity According to Lehigh Valley Arts Council Arts Industry Supports 7,114 Jobs Annually June 12, 2012 ALLENTOWN, PA — The nonprofit arts and culture industry in the Lehigh Valley generates $208 million in annual economic activity—supporting 7,114 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $21.4 million in local and state government revenues, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV national economic impact study. The Lehigh Valley Arts Council and Lehigh Valley Partnership released the findings at the fourth Whose Business is the Arts? public forum on Thursday, June 7, 2012, as community leaders gathered to examine the relevance of the results. “Once again, the Lehigh Valley continues to outpace the national average in growth by double digits,” says Randall Forte, Executive Director of the Lehigh Valley Arts Council. “Since the last study in 2005, the economic impact figures have increased from $169.11 Million to $208 Million—or 27% in our region. This is great news for the Lehigh Valley economy—especially in context of the Great Recession. However, it does raise serious issues about sustainability.” The Lehigh Valley Arts Council submitted data from ninety-one nonprofits to the Americans for the Arts for analysis as part of the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States. According to the study, local nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent $102.1 million during fiscal year 2010. This spending is far-reaching: organizations pay employees, purchase supplies, contract for services and acquire assets within their community. In addition to spending by organizations, the nonprofit arts and culture industry leverages $105.9 million in event-related spending by its audiences for refreshments, souvenirs, transportation and lodging, and miscellaneous items. The total expenditure of $208 million generated $140.6 million in household income for local residents and $21.4 million in local and state government revenues. Nationally, the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study reveals that the nonprofit arts industry produced $135.2 billion in economic activity during 2010. This spending—$61.1 billion by nonprofit arts and culture organizations plus an additional $74.1 billion by their audiences—supported 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs and generated $22.3 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues. The national figures were down 19% from the 2005 study. The Whose Business is the Arts? forum began a dialogue about the importance of raising earned income with today’s challenging economy and reductions in government and corporate spending for the arts. Throughout the next year, the Arts Council will continue its advocacy work on two fronts: 1) educating the public about the value and economic impact of the arts; and 2) educating the nonprofit arts sector about creating more effective business models. For details on the Arts & Economic Prosperity Study, visit http://www.lvartscouncil.org/Economic_Impact.html For more information on the study, visit http://www.lvartscouncil.org/ *** *** About the Lehigh Valley Arts Council The Lehigh Valley Arts Council (LVAC) is a nonprofit, membership-supported organization that serves as a regional advocate and ambassador for the Lehigh Valley arts community. Its mission is to promote the arts; to encourage and support artists and their development; to assist arts organizations; and to facilitate communication and cooperation among artists, arts groups and the community. Through collaborative partnerships, it continues to support the local arts community through education, research, professional development seminars and cooperative marketing initiatives.   This e-mail was sent from Lehigh Valley Arts Council Immediate removal with ® Secure. To forward this e-mail to a friend or colleague, . To change your e-mail address or update preferences, .