News
August 23, 2018ACE Announces Priority Projects for its Third Year of Operations
Building on more than a year of research, planning and consensus-building, The Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy (“ACE”) announces priorities for its third year of operations, including;
• Marketing cultural tourism;
• Launching a brand identity for the region that reflects its Creative Economy;
• Promoting the microbusiness/co-working/freelance community;
• Creating a regional database of independent workforce;
• while continuing to educate the region on the positive impact of the creative economy.
The Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy recently completed a yearlong effort to engage an eight-county region via a comprehensive listening tour consisting of town hall meetings and focus groups. In partnership with the Center for Economic Growth, this project informed and drove the planning efforts of its members, culminating in a focused list of projects to support and grow the region’s creative economy. The priorities for the coming year include:
Launch a cultural tourism marketing campaign. By offering a supplemental – not a replacement – narrative to those of our counties and cities, ACE will deploy a campaign to help illuminate and lead the conversation that advocates for regional cultural tourism.
Unveil the brand identity for the region. ACE has engaged its membership and thousands of stakeholders with a consensus-building approach to develop a regional brand identity that is complementary to the Creative Economy and can be adopted and embraced by all industry sectors. The brand is expected to be unveiled later this year.
Promotion and support for our microbusiness/co-working/freelance community. The Albany/Schenectady/Troy MSA has the sixth highest concentration of Self-Employed Artists in the nation. ACE will deliver priority programming to educate sole proprietors on the skills they need to grow their business, and support them as they scale to become employers including; advocating for independent workers’ rights, including portable benefits, access to funding and training for skill development.
Deployment of a regional database. In the coming year, ACE will launch an interactive database of independent workforce to help employers and employees in all sectors of the Creative Economy connect with 16,000+ creative highly skilled freelancers who live right here in the Capital Region, keeping jobs and opportunities within our eight counties, helping our region thrive. Features of the searchable database will include, job listings, business services, communications tools, and more.
“As this organization begins its third year, I am proud of the work that has been accomplished so far,” said Ellen Sax, Vice President of Community Engagement for MVP Health Care and Membership Chair, ACE. “but equally important is the support and investment ACE has seen from a diverse group of stakeholders who recognize that creative enterprises are vital to our region in terms of employment, community empowerment, economic competitiveness and enhanced quality of life.”
“I am excited to harness the momentum and enthusiasm of the membership and our stakeholders to deploy the events, tools and campaigns that will help grow the region’s Creative Economy and deliver measurable results,” said Maureen Sager, Executive Director, ACE. “In fact, work has already begun on several of these projects. I look forward to sharing updates soon as we are poised to launch some of these initiatives in the coming months.”
For more information about ACE and upcoming events, visit http://www.upstatecreative.org/.
