S.A.'s creative industry grows

SAN ANTONIO — The economic impact of San Antonio's creative industry — which includes public relations specialists, architects, artists and writers — grew slightly in 2012 to $4.29 billion, an economist said at a San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday.

The industry also remains an essential sector for San Antonio's overall economic growth, said Steve Nivin, chief economist of the SABÉR Research Institute.

“Creative reaches into every other industry,” Nivin said, citing examples of companies that need brochures, architects and marketers. “The value added (to products) comes more (than ever) from the creative industry,” he said.

“We talk about STEM a lot,” Nivin added, referring to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. “Along with STEM, we need to include the arts.”

In 2011, the creative industry had an economic impact of $4.26 billion, a figure revised from the one Nivin reported last year.

Creative industry employment rose in 2012 to 28,981, up from the 2011 figure of 28,765.

Wages grew to $1.19 billion in 2012, up from nearly $1.18 billion the previous year, Nivin told nearly 200 people at the luncheon at the Pearl Stable.

The average wage in the industry in 2012 was $39,858, a little lower than the city's overall average wage but higher than 2011, when it was $38,738. The total economic impact numbers are derived from a formula that converts total wages in the industry to a figure that represents the industry's overall economic output, Nivin said.

The creative industry will play a larger role as the ethnic minority portion of the nation's population grows larger, said the luncheon's keynote speaker, Manuel Pastor, a professor of sociology and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

By 2029, the nation's workforce will cross the 50 percent mark with ethnic minority workers, Pastor said. “The demographic changes, as it occurs, spark vitality,” he said. The vitality already happens in San Antonio with its Hispanic population majority.

But ethnic minorities are not being prepared sufficiently for the jobs of the future, he warned. More English-as-a-second-language education is needed, along with more adult education and job training programs at community colleges, he said.

More Information Top 10 S.A. creative occupations by employment in 2012 Photographers: 3,681 Musicians and singers: 2,820 Writers and authors: 2,212 Graphic designers: 1,744 Editors: 1,649 Public relations specialists: 1,570 Marketing managers: 1,372 Industrial designers: 1,320 Art directors: 1,210 Architects: 1,206

Another demographic trend is the large population movement to metropolitan areas.

“As a result, the quality of life makes a difference. You need to have creative types around,” Pastor said.

“San Antonio: Live up to your potential and show your potential in terms of your investment to the arts,” he said.

No mention was made during the luncheon of the opening next year of the $203 million Tobin Center for the Performing Arts or the recent opening of the $32 million Briscoe Western Art Museum, both downtown.

But San Antonio Symphony General Manager David Gross, who attended the luncheon, said afterward that the Tobin Center will “give us a meeting place, a bigger stage for the performing arts. It will give groups a chance to share what they do and to be noticed on a national and international level.

“The performing arts are a tremendous economic engine in the community,” Gross added.

dhendricks@express-news.net