Clarksville-Montgomery County Arts and Heritage Development Council to study Economic Impact of Spending by Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences

Clarksville, TN – The arts mean business.

That is the message being delivered today by the Clarksville/Montgomery County Arts and Heritage Development Council, who announced it has joined “Arts & Economic Prosperity 5,” a national study measuring the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences.

In Clarksville and Montgomery County, the research study is being conducted by AHDC in partnership with Americans for the Arts and the Tennessee Arts Commission.

This is the fifth national study over the past 20 years to measure the impact of arts and culture spending on local jobs, income paid to local residents, and revenue generated to local and state governments. This will be AHDC’s first time to participate.

As one of nearly 300 study partners across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, AHDC will collect economic impact data from local nonprofits that offer arts and culture programming both formal and informal.

“This study will show how nonprofit arts and culture are an important industry in our community—employing people locally, purchasing goods and services from local merchants, and helping to drive tourism and economic development,” said Dr. Ellen Kanervo, executive director of AHDC.

AHDC will also collect surveys from attendees at arts and cultural events. Previous national studies have shown that the average attendee spends $24.60 per person, per event, beyond the cost of admission.

Those studies have also shown that, on average, 32 percent of arts attendees travel from outside the county in which the arts event took place, and that those cultural tourists typically spend nearly $40.00 per person—generating important revenue for local businesses and demonstrating how the arts drive revenue for other businesses in the community.

Surveys will be collected throughout calendar year 2016. The results of the study will be released in June of 2017.

The Clarksville/Montgomery County Arts and Heritage Development Council is a non-profit agency established in 2000 to work with local arts and heritage groups to enhance quality of life in the community through cultural and historical projects.

For more information on this study or other AHDC activities, go to www.artsandheritage.us, join the Clarksville/Montgomery County Arts and Heritage Development Council’s Facebook page, email artsandheritage@cdelightband.net or telephone 931.551.8870.