Study Shows Impact of Cultural Sector - Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon

In a 2012 study commissioned by the Coalition, the economic impacts of Oregon’s cultural nonprofit organizations totaled $1.2 billion in sales and $466 million in wages. The study did not cover Oregon’s full creative sector, but instead focused tightly on the economic impacts of those nonprofits eligible for financial support through Oregon’s Cultural Trust, and the secondary economic activity tied to their work, throughout Oregon.
The report found over 19,000 Oregonians working in the cultural sector—which is roughly equivalent to Oregon’s legal sector. Of this number, 8,750 are employed by a nonprofit that is eligible for support through the Oregon Cultural Trust. These nonprofits were found to directly generate $580.5 million in sales and $272.8 million in taxable employee income. When supply-chain and consumption driven spending were calculated, ECONorthwest estimated the nonprofits’ total economic impact at $1.2 billion in sales, with taxable income climbing to $466 million—generating $57.2 million in tax and fee revenues for state and local governments.
These estimates were based on multiplier effects which found that $1 million in sales by a cultural nonprofit generated an additional $1.1 million in sales for other Oregon businesses. Additionally, jobs at cultural nonprofits linked to jobs in other sectors of Oregon’s economy. For every 10 jobs in a nonprofit that is eligible for cultural trust grants, there are 7 jobs in another sector of the economy tied to those jobs. Find the full report here.