Jacobs and Slifer join State Creative Economy Advisory Panel
Posted on Mon, Dec 21, 2009
EDWARDS,
CO (December 17, 2009) The
Colorado Council of the Arts (a division of the Colorado Office of Economic
Development and International Trade) recently convened a group of notable individuals
who represent creative enterprises and creative occupations throughout the
state. Among those invited to participate were Beth Slifer, CEO and Creative
Director of Slifer Designs, and Yvonne Jacobs, President of Slifer Designs.
The
purpose of forming this new advisory panel is to make sure that the creative
industry continues to thrive; currently the creative industry is Colorado’s 5th
largest economic sector. Slifer and Jacobs, along with representatives from the
Aspen Art Museum are the only mountain resort representatives on the panel; most
other members on the 50 person panel are leaders from the Denver metropolitan
area’s design, literary and publishing, film and media, heritage, and
performing and visual arts industries.
The
panel is co-hosted by Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien and the Office of Economic
Development Director Don Marostica.
“It
is an honor to be included with this group of veteran creative industry leaders
and have the chance to collaborate with them in working toward such an important
goal,” said Jacobs, President, Slifer Designs. “Fostering new creative talent
goes hand-in-hand with growing the overall creative sector,” Jacobs continues.
“I especially enjoy the strategic planning that our panel is conducting, and
look forward to being able to contribute my personal experience as a Colorado
native, as well as what I’ve learned from working in a creative field with
other creative people every day for the past 20 years,” Jacobs concluded.
Currently
the Colorado creative sector represents over 122,000 jobs in almost 8,000
enterprises. There are another
64,000 creative occupations that work in businesses not labeled as a “creative
enterprise,” such as designers in manufacturing companies. Other states have recently made the
creative sector a priority; Oklahoma recently coined itself the “State of
Creativity,” and Massachusetts and Hawaii have both established “Creative
Industries” division in their state’s Office of Economic Development.
The
next steps for the panel are to develop goals and specific policy
recommendations for the Office of Economic Development. An
online presence has been established at www.thecivicnetwork.org/creativeeconomy
to provide background readings and meeting minutes, and to solicit ongoing
feedback from the panel members and input from the broader public.
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