CREATIVE ECONOMY RESOURCES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How does the CVSuite define creative economy?

The Creative Vitality Suite takes a broad approach to the definition of creative. Instead of defining what codes are creative, the CVSuite gives that choice to the user. Users of the tool can select from 98 industry (NAICs) codes and 88 occupation (SOC) codes for a broad definition of the creative economy or can select specific codes for a focused industry sector analysis.

What is the Creative Vitality Index?

The Creative Vitality Index (CVI) is an index that provides a value for the relative economic health of a region’s creative economy when compared to the nation or comparison region. Index values greater than one represent greater creative activity. The CVI has multiple uses. The Index can be used to compare your region to a peer region and the United States. The Index can also be used to benchmark work in the creative economy and to track progress year-over-year. The CVI can serve as a diagnostic tool to identify strengths and weaknesses in an area’s creative economy for further analysis. Community leaders can strategize to encourage growth in a particular segment of the creative sector of their local economy.

What is the smallest region CVSuite supports?

The CVSuite tool allows users to access data at the ZIP Code level. Users can gain insight data to a single ZIP Code or cluster of ZIP Codes. The tool also includes all employment types including full-time workers, such as those measured by state labor departments to self-employed workers and sole proprietors, such as artists who do not report their art revenue as primary income. This level of analysis can bode well for rural communities because this type of worker may be more attracted to the affordability of a rural landscape.

How current is CVSuite data?

The Creative Vitality Suite has data from 2011 through 2021. Users can track trends and growth across years and will have access to a new data year released every fall. We provide the most current creative economy data among data providers for the arts and update our data twice a year to bring you the latest information released from federal economic data sources.

What types of data does CVSuite offer?

Our data covers the full spectrum of of the creative economy from the for-profit to non-profit arts. CVSuite offers a wide range of industries and occupations to examine the economic drivers within your local economy down to the types of workers that are employed in the region. Jobs can be examined by salaried workers, self-employed, and extended proprietors (workers with secondary income). Additional filters allow users to examine their workforce by demographic categories such as gender, age, and race/ ethnicity. CVSuite’s wide selection of customizable data settings for any broad or deep creative sector research.

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Data in the Arts: A Comparison

Understand the key features and differences of the Creative Vitality Suite and the other three primary data providers:

  • NEA/BEA – Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account
  • Americans for the Arts  – Creative Industries Reporting
  • DataArts – Cultural Data Project
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