WisBusiness.com: Thriving arts community can aid business recruitment

By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com

When the $100 million Overture Center holds its grand opening in downtown Madison in mid-September, it will provide a major boost to the arts in and around Dane County. It should also be a boon to businesses ranging from small restaurants to high-tech firms that are thinking of locating here, officials said Tuesday.

By the time it is completed in April 2006, construction alone will have pumped roughly $200 million into the local economy, figuring in wages and materials, said George Austin, president of the Overture Foundation. The 400,000-square-foot building is being funded by gifts from businessman W. Jerome Frautschi.

But the arts center – which will contain the Overture Hall, the Playhouse, three "black box" multi-purpose spaces, meeting rooms, a glass lobby and the refurbished Capitol Theater – is already having an effect on the business community by making Madison a more attractive place to live, he said.

Richard Wilberg, development director for The American Center on Madison’s east side, said cultural attractions are crucial in attracting high-tech and bio-tech companies.

"We are constantly chasing these kinds of deals and we hear over and over again how important the arts are to people involved with technology," he said. "I think this is definitely a move in the right direction."

The $45 million Fox Cities Performing Arts Center – which opened nearly two years ago in downtown Appleton – has had a positive impact on its region, officials said.

Pam Seidl of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, said new restaurants and bars opened in downtown Appleton after the arts center opened. While the majority of audiences are local, she said an estimated 15 percent come from outside the area and frequently stay at hotels.

"Likewise, crews from traveling shows spend money one services and need places to stay," she said. "From our standpoint, it’s drawn in visitors and enhanced the entertainment district."

George Tzougros, executive director of the Wisconsin Arts Board, said the direct effect of theaters and arts centers can be seen before and after every show or performance when people spill out on the street and dine at local restaurants.

"Executives tell us that having world-class arts facilities are a huge draw," he said. "Not only do they attract businesses, but they also draw creative people who then find work once they get here.

"Kimberly-Clark has said it needs to attract people from all over the world," he said. "The new Fox Cities Performing Arts Center is helping them do that."

Citing a study by a group called Americans for the Arts, the Overture Foundation’s Austin said non-profit arts organizations and their audiences spent nearly $26 million in Madison in 2000.

"It’s an intangible sort of thing, but the Overture Center will only make Madison a more vibrant, attractive place to live in terms of culture and entertainment and that will improve our attractiveness to businesses," he said.

"Madison is already rated at the top nationally as a place to live and this will only enhance that," he said.

"When businesses want to locate somewhere, they look at quality of life. Richard Florida, author of ‘Rise of the Creative Class,’ has said investments like this are vitally important for a thriving economy."