New Research Shows Philadelphia's Creative Economy Big, Growing and Leading the Nation in Key Indicators

New Research Shows Philadelphia's Creative Economy Big, Growing and Leading the Nation in Key Indicators

Innovation Philadelphia Study Defines Size and Scope of Region's For-Profit Creative Industry

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Innovation Philadelphia today unveiled preliminary findings from a new study that measures the size, scope and impact of the for-profit creative economy. The study shows that in 2005, creative industry employment within the Philadelphia region generated a total economic impact of nearly $60 billion in total spending which includes $32.5 billion in total earnings and supports a total of 766,000 jobs -- ranking the for-profit creative industry among one of the top industries in the region.

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Innovation Philadelphia's study, Creative Footprint: The Economic Impact of the Philadelphia Region's For Profit Creative Economy, was conducted by Econsult Corporation and examines 16 for-profit industry sectors across the 11-county region.(1) This study is an important step of Innovation Philadelphia's strategic plan to establish Philadelphia's regional economy as a global hub for creative services and talent according to Kelly Lee, Executive Vice President of Innovation Philadelphia.

"It is important to understand all the elements that contribute to growing any economic sector," Lee said. "It is our intent to use these findings as a first step to identify our strengths, set a benchmark for future growth, and develop programs and initiatives that will enable Philadelphia to be a leader in creative industry development within the United States and throughout the rest of the world."

The Creative Footprint study focuses exclusively on the for-profit creative industry sectors which are technology-driven. Creative industry sectors identified by Innovation Philadelphia include architecture, communications, design and merchandising, digital media, engineering, fashion design, graphic arts, information technology, interior and industrial design, marketing, music, film and video production, multimedia design, photography, planning product design and software development.

Within this context, the following highlights emerged:

-- In 2005, creative industry employment within the region generated a total economic impact of nearly $60 billion in total spending. This spending includes $32.5 billion in total earnings and supports 766,000 jobs. (As an example, in a recent study the life sciences industry in the region generated total earnings of $40 billion and supports a total employment of 500,000 jobs.)

-- Average annual salaries of those working in for-profit creative industries are 45 percent higher than those in non-creative industries.

-- Philadelphia's creative workers' earnings increased by 19 percent between 2003 and 2005, which was the fastest growth rate in the U.S.

-- Montgomery County leads the Philadelphia region with 62,000 employees in for-profit creative economy industries followed by Philadelphia County (52,000) and Bucks County (36,000).

-- In 2005, the for-profit creative economy industries generated approximately $1.22 billion in state and local taxes throughout the 11-county region.

-- Self-employed individuals represent 12 percent of all direct for-profit creative industry employment within the Philadelphia region at 36,500.

-- Six percent of creative industry firms (roughly 780) are owned by ethnic minorities and 15.6 percent (approximately 2,000 firms) are female-owned. 60 percent of minority-owned firms are owned by Asians, 26 percent by African Americans and 12 percent by Latinos.

Finally, Creative Footprint measured the Philadelphia region's for-profit creative economy against peer regions that have all engaged in sustained efforts to expand their own creative economy sectors. The regions include Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; Seattle, WA and Tampa, FL. Among these cities, Philadelphia has the second highest direct creative industry employment of all peer regions (Boston has the highest), has the second highest average wages at $55,000 (Seattle has the highest at $65,550 though the cost of living is significantly higher in Seattle to Philadelphia), and Philadelphia has the second highest amount of self-employed creative industry workers of any of the peer regions. Philadelphia ranked #1 in wage growth among peer regions.

These preliminary findings of Creative Footprint will be followed by the release of the full report and an Executive Summary in mid-January that will include recommendations. The next phase of Creative Footprint will be a qualitative analysis, released in March, which will include a regional strategy and a peer region best practice analysis.

About Innovation Philadelphia

Innovation Philadelphia is committed to supporting technology-driven economic growth in the Philadelphia region through growing the region's for-profit creative industries, attracting and retaining young professionals vital to economic growth, and fostering entrepreneurism and new ideas. For more information about Innovation Philadelphia and its initiatives, please visit www.innovationphiladelphia.com

(1) The 11 counties include Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, and Salem in New Jersey; and New Castle County in Delaware.

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Source: Innovation Philadelphia

CONTACT: Ebony Staton, +1-215-893-0606, EStaton@BrownPartnersmm.com, for
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