Museums in the Neighborhood: evaluating the socio-economic impact of museums Stephen Sheppard, Williams College and C 3 D American Association of Museums Denver, Colorado April 30, 2008

Museums can be powerful sources … Of economic development Productive organizations that produce goods and services Bring visitors to community who make purchases from other firms and organizations Generate employment that helps support the neighborhood Of community development Create pride in community and wider awareness of neighborhood Generate contacts with other communities and neighborhoods Build networks of interactions or potential interactions between community organizations Of quality of life Improving educational opportunity and providing amenities to neighborhood Providing social space and open space for public use How to document and evaluate these impacts?

Income, employment, social network, quality of life Income and employment Attracting visitors and residents, purchasing inputs from local economy Comparing museums with similarly sized establishments in other sectors Museums often generate MORE income and employment than manufacturing or business services Museums generally among the top 10 sectors Communities don’t generally have to choose one or the other Social Network Museums provide social space Museums forge partnerships in community Weaving the fabric of social network Quality of Life When quality of life improves, demand for neighborhood increases Directly measured in additional value Relative to other neighborhoods in the urban area Relative to time before museum opened or expanded

Income and employment generation Museum BudgetNon-Local VisitorsPrice Level $4,500,00065, DirectIndirectInducedTotal Gallery and Other Programming$4,500,000$2,202,567$1,991,781$8,694,348 Non-local Visitors$643,820$116,967$169,354$930,141 Total$5,143,820$2,319,534$2,161,135$9,624,489

Impact in a wide variety of sectors Impact of Dia Beacon Gallery and Visitors by Economic Sector DescriptionDirectIndirectInducedTotal Museums and historical sites$4,500,000$0$2,779$4,502,779 Real estate$0$488,907$85,404$574,311 Food services and drinking places$268,450$40,281$130,629$439,360 Owner-occupied dwellings$0 $353,143 Hotels and motels including casino$207,090$5,704$8,069$220,863 Miscellaneous store retailers$168,126$2,123$14,303$184,553 Other educational services$0$241,998$12,260$254,258 Power generation and supply$0$136,223$55,250$191,473 Offices of physicians dentists$0 $151,807 Maintenance and repair of nonres property$0$126,816$10,322$137,138 Hospitals$0 $127,253 Business support services$0$124,034$3,023$127,057 Telecommunications$0$55,960$46,916$102,875 Monetary authorities and depository$0$32,347$60,664$93,012 Wholesale trade$0$32,129$53,442$85,571 Services to buildings and dwellings$0$74,687$13,648$88,335 Employment services$0$76,852$9,422$86,275

Top Impact Sectors in Western Massachusetts Industry DefinitionDirectIndirectInducedTotal State and Local government passenger transit$4,953,288$918,634$4,147,665$10,019,587 Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks$4,953,288$2,340,160$2,137,708$9,431,157 Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles$4,953,288$2,496,266$1,819,049$9,268,602 Computer Systems design services$4,953,288$660,312$3,122,889$8,736,489 Elementary and Secondary Schools$4,953,288$1,154,313$2,615,037$8,722,638 Travel arrangement and reservation services$4,953,288$2,349,773$1,396,866$8,699,927 Motion Picture and video industries$4,953,288$2,617,634$1,112,360$8,683,282 Performing arts companies$4,953,288$1,527,023$2,145,306$8,625,617 Agriculture and forestry support activities$4,953,288$295,422$3,366,720$8,615,430 Grantmaking and social advocacy organizations$4,953,288$2,009,712$1,635,818$8,598,818 Civic, social, professional and similar organizations$4,953,288$1,816,095$1,823,769$8,593,151 Insurance carriers$4,953,288$1,981,677$1,616,970$8,551,935 Custom computer programming services$4,953,288$545,368$3,025,560$8,524,216

Seeing the network of community partners Forging links between affluent and poor neighborhoods

Zoom in to see links between neighborhood groups

Improving quality of life

Improved QOL increases demand for neighborhood Larger impacts for neighborhoods closest to museum

Conclusions While the exact amounts vary, all of the museums we have studied show: Positive local economic impacts for income and employment Impacts that compare favorably to other economic sectors for comparable organizations Powerful abilities to forge social networks between different groups and different neighborhoods Positive impacts on local quality of life that increase the demand for residence in the neighborhood Contributions to wealth creation in the community These findings have important implications for museums Motivation for local financial support for museum Socio-Economic health of community can be an important part of museum mission

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