Frequent bearers of good news, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, have released the Arts, Culture and Economic Prosperity in Greater Philadelphia report, and it contains some gems. The basic findings are as follows:

>>>Southeastern Pennsylvania’s cultural organizations and their audiences have a combined impact of $3.3 billion on the region’s economy. It starts with $1.4 billion of direct expenditures by organizations and audiences. This first round of spending triggers subsequent rounds of spending and results in an additional $1.9 billion in indirect expenditures locally.

>>>Arts and culture supports 44,000 full-time equivalent jobs throughout the region, supporting workers in nearly every industry and in every community.

>>>Arts and culture returns $1.04 billion in household income to Southeastern Pennsylvania residents. Approximately half goes to people living in the City of Philadelphia, and $349.5 million divided up among residents in Chester ($60.6 million), Bucks ($65.5 million), Delaware ($103.5 million) and Montgomery ($119.9 million) counties. The remainder ends up in other Pennsylvania counties and to out of state residents in New Jersey and Delaware.

>>>Cultural tourism is a valuable asset for the region, injecting nearly $230 million in direct spending into the economy. Though visitors make up 29% of cultural attendees, they account for nearly 44% of total audience spending. On average, cultural visitors spend nearly twice as much as local residents per excursion ($45 vs $24 per person).

>>>Arts and culture are a boon to the restaurant and hospitality industries. Cultural audiences spend $237.8 million on meals before and after events, and another $84.3 million on hotels and overnight lodging.

>>>The report breaks down economic impact by cultural discipline. The region’s Science and Nature organizations have the largest impact on the sector with a total economic impact of $658.1 million. This is closely followed by the History ($616 million) and Museums, Galleries and Visual Arts ($604 million).

>>>Performing arts disciplines have a combined economic impact of $675 million, with Music as the highest performer with an economic impact of $242.2 million. Theater and Dance generate $242.2 million and $61.5 million in economic impact respectively. For a full break down of direct expenditures, jobs created, tax revenues and total economic impact generated for each discipline.”

The whole report can be read here, and it’s just chock-full of great things.

So there you have it: The world is not totally made of shit. Have you got some good news? If so, send it to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com with “GOOD MOTHERFUCKING NEWS!” in the subject header — we’d love to hear about it.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2012 at 12:12 pm.