Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu
October 30, 2009
World Cultural Economic Forum
New Orleans, LA
Good morning and welcome to the World Cultural Economic Forum and the Louisiana Cultural Economy Summit.
We are honored to welcome 30 international delegations to the great state of Louisiana,where they are joined by 500 statewide stakeholders for this landmark event.
This audience represents communities across Louisiana and nations across the globe. Each of us brings a unique set of honored traditions and new ideas for the future. When dignitaries gather at international summits, often times our place at the table is determined by the amount of money we have in our pockets. But when it comes to culture, and when it comes to this event, we gather as partners and as equals because all of our cultures are valuable.
In the audience today, I see the new faces of new partners in this movement. I see the familiar faces of those of you who have been with us on this journey for quite some time. The world is a far different place than it was the last time we came together in New Orleans. A global recession has struck the world. Credit markets have frozen. In the United States, a staggering number of people have lost their jobs and their homes. And across the world, many are worse off today than they were one year ago.
But in these unprecedented times, our culture has special significance. Our work today is particularly meaningful as we explore new possibilities where culture and commerce intersect.
As the world confronts a global recession, let me first talk to you about Culture in its broadest sense. In Louisiana, we spell Culture with a capital C because it is who we are. It encompasses all those aspects of our society which define a people, a history. We believe - indeed, we know - that our Culture gives our state its heart and soul. Here, culture emanates from the streets, and it is passed down from generation to generation. As you’ve experienced walking through the streets of the French Quarter, this is a place that could be foreign to Americans and familiar to foreigners.
Ours is one of the only states in the union that has flown under the flags of Spain and of France. Our heritage is a gumbo of Native Americans, European Americans and African Americans. Our good fortune has continued in recent decades with arrival of new Louisianans from Asia, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean - with the largest communities arriving from Vietnam and Honduras.
Louisiana is a melting pot of many of the world’s rich cultures, and born of these cultures are some of the world’s special treasures. Like jazz, that finds its roots in Congo Square, just a few blocks from where we gather this morning. The birth place of jazz could only be here in New Orleans, where many cultures from around the world converged, providing all the right ingredients to cook up the first uniquely American art form.
So in these tough economic times, we remember that our Culture gives us joy and a sense of who we are. Our Culture provides us with a means to express ourselves. It brings us together as a people and it makes us unique.
In Louisiana, we learned this simple truth the hard way. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought us to our knees. Every community in Louisiana was impacted. While the storms took our homes and our property and sometimes even our loved ones, Mother Nature could not take our spirit, which is born of our Culture.
Many countries represented in this room provided critical support to our state in our hour of need. We sincerely thank all of you who so generously contributed to Louisiana’s rebirth.
After the storms, when we heard the joyous sounds of a second line or joined together in the streets to celebrate Mardi Gras, we were sending a signal to the world and to ourselves, that Louisiana had a pulse, that we were not dead yet, and that we would be reborn.
Our story is not unique. History tells the story of people who have used their culture to help overcome great challenges. Whether we’re talking about healing South Africa in the aftermath of apartheid or in rebuilding communities after war, culture plays a significant role.
In Louisiana, the resurrection of our culture was good for our souls, and it was also good for our pocketbooks. When our economy was devastated by these powerful storms, our burgeoning cultural economy, along with the tourism industry, helped lead the economic recovery of our state. Because Louisiana has an economic asset that other states in America can only dream about: a deeply rooted, authentic culture that attracts visitors and can, in fact, create jobs.
To that point, the cultural economy in Louisiana accounts for 144,000 jobs. It makes up more than seven percent of our state’s employment base. And before the storms, it was the fastest growing sector of the state’s economy.
We knew that if we wanted to continue to grow jobs through this industry, it would not happen by accident. We needed to be deliberate, and treat culture like any other industry. As a state that has long relied on oil, gas, and timber to fuel its economy, Louisiana realized that, in culture, it had a new source of largely untapped economic energy. But if culture—abundant, renewable, and clean—is Louisiana’s figurative new oil, then it requires the industrial equivalent of the skilled workers, refineries, pipelines, and business entities to bring it to the global marketplace.
So we got about the business of developing the cultural economy. Through smart tax policy, tax incentives and public-private partnerships, we made great strides.
Through the Main Street Programs, we’re bringing life back to historic downtowns in rural areas across Louisiana. Since its inception, the program has created more than 1,700 new businesses and 7,900 new jobs. Through Cultural Districts, we’re creating hubs of cultural activity where one-of-a-kind artworks are sold tax free, and the rehabilitation of historic properties is encouraged with income tax exemptions.
I’m proud that Louisiana ranks in the top ten states for investments leveraged and jobs created using tax credit programs for historic preservation. And I’m proud that our state is the third largest film production hub in the United States. Our state went from doing $10.5 million in 2002 to $451 million in 2008. We created an industry from whole cloth, using smart tax policy and strong workforce development.
Our approach to developing the cultural economy takes advantage of two types of economic development. On one hand, you can develop a region’s economy by luring big business with hefty financial incentive packages. In Louisiana, we have successfully used this approach to attract factories and processing plants and the thousands of jobs that they create. We’ve even grown the film industry this way.
On the other hand, you can develop a region’s economy by cultivating indigenous talent. Through thoughtful tax policy and investment, you can create jobs organically by growing the businesses that make up the fabric of a community. Pretty soon, a few jobs here and a few jobs there add up to something transformative.
Our efforts to grow jobs through culture complement traditional economic development efforts. Our work creates avenues of prosperity for the people and businesses that put culture and creativity at their core. Growing the cultural economy strengthens communities. The connection between a healthy culture and a healthy economy is now becoming clear.
Developing the cultural economy is a manifestation of a simple economic development principle, and that is “adding value.” For too long, Louisiana has simply exported our raw material, native talent and intellectual capital.
While we are blessed with abundant natural resources, all too often we ship those goods across our borders, where someone else adds value and sells a new product back to us at a higher price. And while we are blessed with native talent, all too often our people need to go someplace else to “make it.” This is unacceptable.
Through the cultural economy initiative, we are reversing that trend. Our goal is to create opportunities and to add value right here at home, so that we can sell our products to the world with a big stamp on it that says, “Made in Louisiana.”
Here’s a real life example of what I mean by “adding value”. Kleinpeter Farms Dairy is a local Louisiana company in the business of providing milk products to South Louisiana for over ninety years. Jeff Kleinpeter is the fourth generation owner of this family business and he had an idea. Why not create ice cream with our farm’s milk? And why not create flavors that use local ingredients – like Ruston peaches, Ponchatula Strawberries and Bergeron Pecans. Since the launch of the ice cream more than a year ago, their revenue has doubled. And between Kleinpeter and their other local partners, nearly 120 new full time jobs have been created across the state. Now that’s adding value. And guess what – they sell that ice cream with a big stamp on it that says “Made in Louisiana.”
When we talk about adding value, we are also talking about creating a culture of innovation. Columnist Thomas Friedman recently described those who could innovate as the new untouchables in the global economy. To paraphrase, vanilla doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s all about the chocolate sauce, whipped cream and cherry you can put on top.
So, what are the expectations for a 21st century economy? And who will be bestpositioned to compete? The latest trends and research suggests that innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity are the new currency in a global economy.
At the foundation of a 21st century economy lie talented and creative people. The strength of our new cultural economy is based on the creativity and imagination that embodies Louisiana’s unique culture and heritage.
Arts and culture are not typically buzz words in economic development circles. But the cultural economy creates real jobs. And creative people are the core force of economic growth in our future economy.
Several years ago, I read a book called the Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. His work influenced the development of our cultural economy initiative.
Florida contends that the Creative Class is important because they create new ideas, new high technology and regional growth. Consequently, the creative class will bring any country who has them to great economic power and growth.
If we want to compete in the 21st century economy, our schools must make creativity and innovation part of the ABC’s of learning. And we must also retain and attract creative people to our communities.
That’s why we passed arts in education legislation to put music and the arts back into every Louisiana public school.
Some of the best minds in the nation on this subject are meeting during the Summit to help shape our pilot program that will launch next school year.
Research tells us that when you teach music and the arts, then math and science scores go up. When you teach music and the arts, then creativity and imagination are sparked. If we fail to teach our young people the fundamentals of our culture, then there will not be a next generation. Our opening performers are aptly named. We have a responsibility to nurture the roots of music. Let’s give those young people a hand.
These children, and their brothers and sisters around the world, represent our future. Today, we continue the global discussion on ways to use culture and creativity to drive innovation and economic opportunity for us all.
When I took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, leaders from the international community described this as the global cultural economy movement. But when I’m in my neighborhood, we simply say, “Culture’s where it’s at.”
It’s a simple truth, and a powerful idea that can change Louisiana and change the world.
Thank you and God Bless.
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