FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ernesto Balderas
Communications Director
Utah Cultural Alliance
(714) 876-7125
UTAH CULTURAL ALLIANCE RELEASES THE CULTURAL INDUSTRY ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT
New Findings Show Utah’s Cultural Industry Greatly Contributes to Jobs, Sales, and Sales Tax Revenue
Salt Lake City, Utah - February 3, 2022 - In a press conference on Tuesday, February 1, Utah Cultural Alliance (UCA), alongside co-publishers Utah Division of Arts & Museums (UA&M) and Salt Lake County Arts & Culture (SLCo Arts & Culture), released the Cultural Industry Economic Impact Report (Report). Authored by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute (KGPI), the Report details the latest data available showing the cultural industry’s impact on jobs growth, sales tax revenues, and other areas of the Utah economy from 2019 and 2020. The Report and full recording of our press conference is now available on UCA’s website.
The cultural industry has suffered the second largest impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic behind the leisure and hospitality industry. To date, cultural businesses across Utah report revenue losses exceeding $89.5 million since March 2020. To combat these losses, the Utah Legislature has provided significant financial support to the cultural industry in 2020 and 2021 through funds received from both the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“When I speak to my colleagues in other states about how their industry is weathering the ongoing pandemic…it is nothing like the story here in Utah,” said UCA Executive Director, Crystal Young. “The cultural industry is still hurting but the investment made by the Utah Legislature in cultural businesses has helped them bounce back and not only survive, but thrive.”
“The cultural industry…continues to suffer from cancellations due to Omicron,” said UA&M Director, Vicki Bourns. “However, Utah’s industry has survived this period better than other states due to the quick action and significant support of Governor Herbert, Governor Cox, President Adams, Speaker Wilson, and the Utah Legislature.”
“Prior to the pandemic, these venues [SLCo Arts & Culture operated facilities] saw over 1 million attendees per year,” said Division Director of SLCo Arts & Culture, Matt Castillo. “Although we haven’t seen these numbers return in 2021 and into 2022, we certainly are on the right path.”
To better understand how the cultural industry contributes to Utah’s economy going forward, UCA partnered with UA&M and SLCo Arts & Culture to co-publish the new Cultural Industry Economic Impact Report. Authored by the KGPI, the Report details the latest data available showing the cultural industry’s impact on jobs growth, sales tax revenues, and other areas of the Utah economy from 2019 and 2020. According to the Report, in 2020, Utah’s cultural industry generated $9.1 billion in direct sales, which spurred an additional $8.7 billion in indirect and induced effects, for a total of $17.8 billion in total sales—or 9.0% of Utah’s 2020 Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Also in 2020, the cultural industry supported an estimated 108,560 total jobs in 2020; this means that one in 12 Utah jobs was directly or indirectly attributed to the cultural sector. Additionally, the $9.1 billion in direct cultural industry sales in 2020 generated an estimated $459.7 million in direct tax revenue, or $194.9 million in state and $114.2 million in local tax revenue.
"Think of that, in the middle of COVID, in the middle of a pandemic,...though there is a decrease [between 2019 and 2020], these are still really good numbers, in fact I think they’re great numbers," said Senate President Stuart Adams.
“The arts sector enriches our souls and raises our quality of life,” said Speaker of the House Brad Wilson. “There is still concern for our arts organizations and we look forward to seeing legislation supporting the sector by Senator Cullimore and Senator Winterton.”
The Cultural Industry Economic Impact Report is now available to view on UCA’s website along with the full recording of the press conference and accompanying high-resolution images. Requests for further images and video of the press conference or activities in the Rotunda on February 1 may be directed to UCA Communications Director, Ernesto Balderas at [email protected]. Any questions regarding the data collected or findings within the Report may be directed to Nick Thiriot of the KGPI at [email protected].
About Utah Cultural Alliance
Founded in 1980, the Utah Cultural Alliance (UCA) is the industry association for arts, culture, and entertainment in the state of Utah. As the industry association, UCA advocates for necessary investment and policy that helps this industry thrive. UCA also amplifies the value of culture and supports creative professionals. To do this, UCA programs include NowPlayingUtah.com, the Culture Bytes podcast, Culture Corner blog series, and various data impact research publications released periodically. NowPlayingUtah.com serves as the official cultural event resource across the state of Utah where consumers may find listings for over 8,000 events annually. The site receives over 1 million visitors annually. UCA also hosts an annual conference of professionals within the cultural industry.
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