Future of area’s creative economy eyed
Attendees discuss freelancing, business and regional identity
TROY, N.Y. » Capital Region creatives got the conversation started about the area’s creative economy this week during a roundtable discussion event, the first in a regionwide series.
The meeting, presented by the Alliance for the Creative Economy in a new partnership with the Center for Economic Growth, drew about 120 people on Monday evening to WMHT Public Media in Troy. Among them were small business owners, freelance writers, elected officials and local artists.
The group heard from both the Alliance for the Creative Economy and the Center for Economic Growth about the creative economy’s important role in the greater regional economy.
“The creative industries are the fourth largest employment sector in the Capital Region. We are bigger than higher education,” Alliance for the Creative Economy project director Maureen Sager explained to attendees. “This is big.”
After a quick information session on
what the creative economy is and the sectors it represents, including recent employment data, the evening’s focus shifted gears to how it can successfully move forward.
Event- goers gathered into three different roundtable discussion groups on freelancing, business and regional identity, and each compiled some ideas for the future.
“I think it’s an important step for the region to embark on,” said Troy Deputy Mayor Monica Kurzejeski, the city’s former economic development coordinator, who participated in the talk about regional identity. Looking ahead, Kurzejeski said the city will do its part in continuing the conversation, with attention on its own branding and how it fits into the bigger picture of the Capital Region, making sure it is competitive in a larger marketplace.
Troy City Council member Anasha Cummings said the event sparked some thinking, for him, in terms of how the region thinks about attracting people, and inviting them to experience it more deeply than just as a tourist, “but really to engage with it,” he said.
Local business owner JD Fielding, who recently opened Mindful Intentions on River Street in downtown Troy, said by attending Monday’s gathering he gained an understanding of the region’s creative economy and how he fits into it. He also plans to attend additional upcoming Alliance for the Creative Econ- omy events to learn more.
“I think for people to sit down and have some honest dialogue and share their thoughts and ideas,” he said, “gives you a better idea.”
This week’s Rensselaer County roundtable kicked off a series of six, which will take place throughout the region over the next month.
The next, representing Washington and Warren counties, will be on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at The Hyde Collection, 161 Warren St. in Glens Falls, followed by Schenectady County’s on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Proctors, 432 State St. in Schenectady.
The Hall of Springs, located in Saratoga Spa State Park, will host Saratoga County’s roundtable on Monday, March 5.
Another is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 at Hudson Hall, 327 Warren St. in Hudson, for Columbia and Greene counties.
The the final roundtable will be in Albany County on Monday, March 12 at Overit, located at 435 New Scotland Ave. in Albany. This event was rescheduled from Feb. 7.
All events will feature private meetings with business and cultural leaders from 3 to 5 p.m. followed by public roundtable discussions from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Those interested in attending can register for the roundtables online at www. upstatecreative.org.