Study of arts and cultural organizations shows $133 million in activity in Onondaga County

A year-long survey of the economic impact of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in Onondaga County finds they spur more than $130 million economic activity per year and provide the equivalent of more than 5,000 jobs.

The study, “Arts & Economic Prosperity IV: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences in Greater Syracuse Area,” is part of a national arts study that zeroed in on local spending by arts groups, resident and nonresident audiences and the economic ripple effect.

The survey’s findings are intended to arm arts groups with hard data to lobby civic, business and government leaders for money and support and to show arts groups are major contributors to a community’s economy beyond their appeal as a quality of life asset.
The study found:

• $133.4 million in total economic activity.
• $33.9 million spent by nonprofit arts and culture groups.
• $99.5 million in event-related spending by audiences.

The spending supports 5,117 full-time equivalent jobs and $110.4 million in household income. Local and state governments received $20.1 million in revenue from this activity, according to the study’s findings.
The study defines economic impact as full-time equivalent jobs, resident household income and local and state revenue derived from taxes on income, property, sales, lodging, etc.

The arts groups also reported an attendance of 3.8 million in arts programs and events during 2010.
“We now have a report that we have not had before in this region that clearly demonstrates we are an economic catalyst in this community. We do provide jobs. We do provide tax revenue. We do help local businesses,” said Jeffrey Woodward, managing director of Syracuse Stage, during a Post-Standard editorial board meeting Wednesday to provide details of the report.

Woodward was joined by Stephen Butler, executive director of the Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse and Onondaga County, Carol Sweet, president of the Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance of Central New York, and Le Moyne College Professor Ronald Wright, who directed the study.
Woodward added, “You may not be interested in the arts personally as a politican or believe in the arts, but there’s an economic reason to support the arts.”

Taxpayer support of the arts in a frequent subject of debate among local elected officials. In the most recent vote on the Onondaga County budget, for example, legislators voted to withhold, at least temporarily, the $404,465 County Executive Joanie Mahoney asked for to support the musical group formed after the collapse of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in 2011.

Several arts groups and Le Moyne College partnered in the organization and collection of the data. The Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance of Central New York, the Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse and Onondaga County worked with the Management Division of Le Moyne College on the project.

Ronald Wright, the Michael D. Madden professor of business at education at Le Moyne, lead the study, directing Le Moyne students in collecting financial information from 45 arts groups, ranging from large organizations like Everson Museum of Art to smaller operations such as India Community Religious & Cultural Center.

Students also approached 841 audience members last year to fill out detailed written surveys of their spending associated with attending cultural events.

From those surveys, researchers estimated 73.2 percent of audiences were residents of Onondaga County and 26.8 nonresidents. There is interest in nonresidents who are considered cultural tourists and who spend an average of $37.57 per event, not including admission, on things like meals, lodging and transportation. This is compared with the average of $21.66 per event spent by residents.
All this data was then funneled into an economic research model established by Americans for the Arts, a national arts advocacy group that regularly conducts the Arts & Economic Prosperity survey nationwide. The analysis model is described as tracking “how many times a dollar is ‘re-spent’ within the local economy” and its ripple effect.

Detailed financial information on 40 spending categories for 2010 — labor, payments to local and visiting artists, operations, facilities and capital expenditures — was collected from the 45 nonprofit arts groups. Those organizations also reported receiving in-kind contributions with an aggregate value of $2.7 million during fiscal year 2010. Contributors include corporations, individuals, local and state arts agencies and government.

The cost of the project was $37,500, which included a participation fee to the Americans for Arts, according to Wright.

Syracuse Arts Economic Impact Report 2012