Contact:
Crystal Young-Otterstrom, ED
Utah Cultural Alliance
801.652.0737
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 4, 2017

Three Utah Communities Generated over $400 million in Economic Activity

Utah -- Every five years, local communities can partner with Americans for the Arts on a large-scale economic modeling project. Called Arts & Economic Prosperity (AEP), the fifth such project included three Utah communities: Logan, Iron County, and Salt Lake City. “As the advocacy voice of Utah’s cultural businesses, we at Utah Cultural Alliance (UCA) have long talked about the economic contribution made by our sector,” said board member & data co-chair Wendi Hassan (Cache Valley Center for the Arts). “We are excited to have this data from Americans for the Arts. While Iron County participated in Arts & Economic Prosperity IV (AEPIV), three communities are the largest number who have participated to date.” 

Total spending in the three communities totaled $414,017,027 resulting from 100 organizations. UCA estimates there are over 300 nonprofit cultural businesses and over a thousand for-profit cultural businesses. “Imagine the economic impact generated by all of these businesses. We hope to measure them all some day,” said board member & data co-chair Pamela Gee (Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre).

 

 

Note, event-related spending does not include the ticket price paid by the attendee. Instead,  event-related spending includes items such as parking, food, drinks, souvenirs, lodging, etc.

Logan Key Findings (compiled from 24 participating organizations):

  • Arts & Cultural Organizations spent $17,572,786
  • Arts & Cultural Audiences spent $13,753,037
    • Average event-related spending per person by residents attendees: $12.96
    • Average event-related spending per person by nonresident attendees: $88.07
  • Total FTE jobs: 1,104
  • Revenue generated to Local Government: $1,453,000
  • Revenue generated to State Government: $1,241,000
  • Total industry expenditures: $31,325,823
  • Lead organization: Cache Valley Center for the Arts 

 

Iron County Key Findings (compiled from 19 participating organizations):

  • Arts & Cultural Organizations spent $13,330,445
  • Arts & Cultural Audiences spent $62,797,824
    • Average event-related spending per person by residents attendees: $19.85
    • Average event-related spending per person by nonresident attendees: $137.35
  • Total FTE jobs: 1,955
  • Revenue generated to Local Government: $3,451,000
  • Revenue generated to State Government: $3,571,000
  • Total industry expenditures: $76,128,287
  • Lead organization: Cedar City Arts Council

 

Note: The high number of revenue generated (taxes), as well as the high amount spent by audiences, is due to Iron County being primarily a cultural tourist destination with Utah Shakespeare Festival as its primary economic driver.

 

SLC Key Findings (compiled from 57 participating organizations):

  • Arts & Cultural Organizations spent $112,442,674
  • Arts & Cultural Audiences spent $194,120,153
    • Average event-related spending per person by residents attendees: $26.25
    • Average event-related spending per person by nonresident attendees: $40.71
  • Total FTE jobs: 10,479
  • Total attendance: 5,556,177 people
  • Revenue generated to Local Government: $13,080,000
  • Revenue generated to State Government: $14,857,000
  • Total industry expenditures: $306,562,917
  • Lead organization: SLC Arts Council

 

 

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