Creativity Pays Off
Creative industries that churn out fashion, art and movies are major economic powerhouses in Los Angeles.
According to a new study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., commissioned by the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, creative industries in the Los Angeles area are the region’s top economic stimulators.
The study concluded that these industries (which include architecture, interior design, art galleries, entertainment, fashion, product and industrial design, and visual and performing arts) generate one million direct and indirect jobs in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Those statistics indicated that the region’s creative industries are outpacing Southern California’s long-time economic leaders: tourism and international trade.
Fashion and accessories businesses are Los Angeles’ second-strongest segments, creating 265,200 jobs and moving $72.3 billion in 2005. The entertainment industry, with 422,300 jobs and $152.7 billion in business, is the area’s top-performing creative industry.
The study, compiled by LAEDC Chief Economist Jack Kyser and released March 1, also found Los Angeles ahead of New York as a creative economic center due to its strong fashion, toy, furniture and entertainment industries. Los Angeles, with its 27,121 creative businesses and their 346,000 workers, has 13 percent more creative establishments and 47 percent more creative employees than the Big Apple.
Otis and the LAEDC hope their findings will change the way the area sees these -industries. “Now that we know definitively that creativity drives the regional economy, it is imperative that educators, business and cultural leaders, and elected officials work together to ensure that the creative fields are recognized as an economic engine and properly supported in the future,” said Samuel Hoi, president of Otis, in a statement. “We Angelenos are uniquely positioned to collaborate in ways that integrate global knowledge, innovative thinking and technology in order to create the commerce and culture of the future.”
Kyser, who called creativity the “basic capital of the Los Angeles region,” agreed. “In fact, it is the key driver of the region’s diverse economic base,” he said in a press release.
The study’s full results may be viewed at www.otis.edu/econreport. —Erin Barajas
