Creative Economy

The Commonwealth has launched a Creative Economy Initiative and appointed a Creative Economy Industry Director in the Massachusetts Office of Business Development to work one-on-one with businesses and artists.

What are the Creative Industries?

In Massachusetts, the creative industries include the many interlocking industry sectors that provide creative services or create and promote intellectual property products. The businesses (for-profit), organizations (not-for-profit) and individuals (sole Proprietors) can be divided into the following categories:

  • Marketing - Advertising and marketing agencies & professionals
  • Architecture - Architecture firms & architects
  • Visual Arts & Craft - Museums, galleries, curators, artists, artisans, & makers
  • Design - Product, interior, graphic, and fashion design firms and designers
  • Film & Media - Film, animation, TV & Radio businesses, organizations, & talent
  • Digital Games - Companies, programmers, & individuals producing games
  • Music & Entertainment - Venues, theatres, producers, musicians & performers
  • Publishing - Print or electronic businesses & content creator, editors, & writers

Supporting the Creative Industries

The Creative Economy Network working with the Creative Economy Industry Director for the state is working to accelerate the economic growth of the Commonwealth's creative industries across the Commonwealth. The Network will help implement the Commonwealth's Action Agenda to support and grow the state's creative economy industries:

Business Development: Generate new opportunities for the businesses, organizations, and individuals working in the creative industries. Improve access to technical assistance, expertise, mentorship, and training for companies within the creative industries by bringing coherence and integration of the available resources.

Access to Capital: Increase access to direct financial support for creative industry organizations and businesses. Help coordinate trainings and mitigate barriers to access.

Visibility: Bring awareness and attention to the value and quality of the creative industries in Massachusetts. Develop opportunities to connect, feature, and highlight the creative industries through events, campaigns, and content generation in traditional and social media.

Talent: Develop connections to interns and college students within the creative industries. Generate initiatives for the creative industries to access and attract entry level, middle, and upper level talent.

Space: Survey the existing and developing convening, incubator, and working space resources available for the creative industries. Seek additional opportunities to support the development of additional space and recruit businesses to use the spaces.

Pioneer Valley Creative Network

Western Mass EDC, in partnership with:

  • Amherst Business Improvement District
  • Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce & Hampshire County Regional Tourism Council
  • Arts Extension Service/UMass
  • Berkshire Film and Media Collaboration
  • City of Holyoke
  • Easthampton City Arts+
  • Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and Regional Tourism Council
  • Fostering the Arts and Culture Project
  • Greater Shelburne Falls Business Association
  • Mass Digital Gaming Institute
  • New England Public Media (NEPM)
  • Springfield Business Improvement District
  • Springfield Cultural District

Pioneer Valley Creative Economy Companies*

  • Anzovin Studio
  • Cardinale Design
  • Dietz & Company Architects
  • Hitpoint, Inc.

*This list represents a sampling of the region's many Creative Economy companies.

Resources

Mass Innovation Nights: Product developers, managers, and marketers.
Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD): assists companies in navigating and obtaining the technical, human, financial and resources necessary to expand.
Massachusetts Small Business Development Centers: Massachusetts has a strong network of organizations ready to help you create or refine a business plan, receive technical assistance or access financing.
Massachusetts Export Center: The Massachusetts Export Center helps companies throughout the Commonwealth achieve success in a global market.
MassEcon: Site Finder Service is an economic development resource for companies seeking a Massachusetts location.
Mass Growth Capital Corp (MGCC): Provides a centralized resource at the state level that offers working capital, loan guarantees, and targeted technical assistance to solve specific financial and operational problems.
Valley Venture Mentors: Valley Venture Mentors provides key support to the entrepreneurial ecosystem by uniting carefully selected start-ups with high quality business mentors at a structured monthly pitch and planning session.

To download a copy of the Massachusetts Creative Economy Resource list, click here.

To download a copy of the Creative Economy Network Toolboxes, click here.

The Creative Economy Director is available to help guide you through the process of developing the creative industries in your region.

Helena Fruscio Altman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology and Director of Creative Network
Phone: (617) 788-3602
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Welcome to New England's Creative Economy Directory!

A project of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), CreativeGround is brought to you through ongoing partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, the Maine Arts Commission, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and the Vermont Arts Council.

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