PORTLAND – Maine’s “creative economy” – driven by everyone from artists and actors to architects and ad writers – is as big as its health-care industry, each employing about 10 percent of the state’s workforce.

That’s a significant number, according to Charles Colgan, a public policy professor at USM who headed up the research behind that and other new findings. He’ll present the information at a two-day statewide governor’s conference on building a creative economy next week in Lewiston.

Conference organizers hope it will get the ball rolling on forming public policy strategies to encourage economic development based on the arts, culture and technology. And they hope it will give economic developers from around the state the tools to encourage creative businesses in their communities.

Acknowledging that the concept of a creative economy is “fuzzy,” Colgan decided to approach the research by dividing Maine’s creative industries into two sectors: those industries that are related to the arts and those where technology and innovation are particularly critical.

“Creativity is an inherent process in successful businesses and organizations,” said Colgan. “At some level everybody who’s successful uses creativity. But government statistics don’t let us distinguish the creative business owner from the dullard.”

Colgan’s research shows 4,300 businesses comprise the creative economy sector in Maine and account for 63,000 employees. Of those, about 56,000 are in technology and 7,500 in the arts.

“For comparison purposes, 7,500 is about equal to the wood products industry, excluding the paper industry,” he said.

The wages paid to creative industry workers is also significant. They totaled about $2.5 billion in 2002, almost 15 percent of the $17 billion in wages paid that year in Maine.

Of the $2.5 billion, the lion’s share went to technology workers. They earned $2.3 billion compared to the arts’ $210 million.

The numbers help public policymakers get an accurate snapshot of Maine’s existing creative economy sector. How it will be extrapolated is unknown.

“This data can’t do forecasting,” said Colgan. But he does think the outlook for developing a creative economy is robust if leaders consider the research “more in terms of possibilities rather than certainties.” In other words, he said, research on creative economies cannot yet guarantee a community a certain return if it invests a certain amount in developing creative businesses.

He also urged development leaders to consider the geographical context of a creative economy. Developing creative or arts-based businesses in an urban setting is different than the same effort in a rural one.

Colgan said cities must have a creative economy component to compete with other cities. Performing arts groups, museums and cultural festivals are part of the amenities expected by city dwellers.

“If our cities have to compete, they have to have the full suite of amenities of arts and culture,” said Colgan. “L-A, Bangor and Portland compete with all the other cities whenever businesses choose to locate or expand. It’s part of the equation.”

Rural communities should consider enhancing their creative economy offerings to help stabilize the impact from the loss of manufacturing jobs and to capitalize on Maine’s growing tourism trade, he noted.

“Tourism, recreation, entertainment, all of these provide people respite from the cities,” said Colgan. “Rural areas greatly increase in population during the summer. We have to find a way to take advantage of that.”

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