ACT!

Haverhill
Arts Culture & Tourism (ACT)
Initiative
May 3, 2016

As Chairman of the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, I visited almost

every city and town in the state. There is a visible difference in places
with an active cultural community. I see people looking for places to
park, stores staying open late, and restaurants packed with customers.
The business day is extended and the cash registers are ringing.
-

Ken Fergeson Chairman and CEO, NBanC Past President, American Bankers Association

The findings from Arts & Economic Prosperity III send a clear and
welcome message: leaders who care about community and economic
development can feel good about choosing to invest in the arts.
-

Robert L. Lynch President and CEO, Americans for the Arts

But seriously whats the ROI for

investing in the arts?
In Massachusetts: For every $1
invested in the arts, $5 goes back
into the local community.
-

Mass Cultural Council (2016)

Case Study: Lowell

Many cities and towns have an Office of Arts, Culture, and Tourism, which is dedicated to boosting cultural events,
public art commissions, and tourism. Cities continue to fund these offices, because there is a significant return on
investment (ROI).

The Office of Cultural Affairs & Special Events is the official arts and
events agency for the City of Lowell. Established by City ordinance in
May 2008, CASE accomplishes its mission by planning yearly
community events including the 4th of July celebration, Downtown
Trick or Treating in partnership with Monster Bash, City of Lights,
Winterfest, and the annual St. Patrick's Day event. In addition, the
office of CASE provides logistical support for major events like the
Lowell Folk Festival, the Bay State Marathon, and the Southeast Asian
Water Festival. For smaller community events, the office of CASE
provides assistance with the public event permitting process.
Working together, COOL and CASE created the Guide to Permitting
for Festivals and Special Events to make the process of navigating
City services easier.

What has been the ROI for establishing Lowells COOL initiative
by City ordinance? Heres what they accomplished, just last year:
Number of Lowell Events Promoted Annually

2,500

Number of Partner Organizations

260

Large-Scale Events (1,000-150,000 attendees)

Hosted and/or Permitted

13

Overall Attendance for Events and/or Permits 250,000

Annually
AMOUNT OF SPONSORSHIP DOLLARS
SUPPORTING CITY PROGRAMS

$211,000

COOL/ Cultural Affairs Grant Funding

$18,748

Total Outside Funding (non-City)

$229,748

*Note: outside funding does not calculate revenue generated from events and tourism.

More than a dozen

large scale events,
attracting business
downtown
of a million guests in
attendance annually
Substantial private
sector investment:
$211,000
Total of 2,500 events
promoted annually

The city of Lowell allocates

$137,170
towards their Office of
Cultural Affairs, Arts & Special Events

But Haverhill isnt Lowell!

Were actually better positioned.

We may not have the funding to develop our own

City office for arts and tourism (as we once had),
but Creative Haverhill is already doing much of
the described COOL (Lowell City Arts + Tourism
Office) work.

Why are we better

positioned?
Creative Haverhill provides the vehicle for achieving what Lowells City managed office has done.

1. Creative Haverhill already exists - no need to

reinvent the wheel.
2. Most cities and towns put 1-3 people on the citys
tourism and arts payroll, incurring additional costs
to the city. Creative Haverhill independently
operates on their own books, eliminating the
costs of bringing on mores city employees.

So we have the
vehicle -- now lets
accelerate it.

Securing and Accelerating Creative Haverhill

5% of Meals Tax + 5% of Parking Fines Reinvested

Into Attracting More Customers for Local
Businesses Through Public Art & Tourism

$700,000
Meals tax: estimated
City revenue annually

$200,000
Parking Fines: estimated
City revenue annually

.05

$35,000

.05

$10,000
$45,000
Invested into Creative Haverhill

A public-private partnership

City of Lowell invests $137,000 in their office of arts and tourism. The
private sector in Lowell invest $211,000 into the arts and tourism.
Haverhill will get the ball rolling with $45,000. Companies will collectively,
at the very least, match the $45,000.
The good news: several companies already have a relationship with
Creative Haverhill.

A $90,000 boost to arts,

tourism, and economic
development.

Re-cap
Creative Haverhill will remain an independent body, eliminating
the need to have more city employees.
City of Haverhill establishes public-private partnership,
ACT! Haverhill investing 5% of meals tax and 5% of parking
fines into Creative Haverhill, combined with corporate sponsors.
Creative Haverhill will use these funds to promote arts, culture,
and tourism, as a tool for Haverhill economic development.