Michigan
| Program | # of Grants | EDA Funds |
|---|---|---|
| Economic Adjustment Assistance | 4 | $2,161,910 |
| Public Works | 2 | $4,729,664 |
| Planning | 5 | $621,908 |
| Technical Assistance |
3 | $334,576 |
| Total | 14 | $7,848,058 |
Starting in 2012, Creative Many (formerly ArtServe Michigan) undertook a project that would help understand more fully how the arts, culture and creative industries are contributing to Michigan’s economy. In its 2015 study of Michigan nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, Creative Many calculated that the state’s nonprofit creative arts organizations contributed more than half a billion dollars to the Michigan economy during fiscal year 2012 alone.1
In the wake of the breakdown of Detroit’s automotive industry, creative industries are vital to Michigan’s economic reinvention. However, in order to ensure that this growth continues, it is critical to understand the needs and opportunities that this emergent sector will create. In September 2014, EDA awarded $100,000 in Technical Assistance funds to ArtServe to support the second phase of comprehensive research, analysis, and reporting on the state’s creative and design industries and in the key regions of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, and Grand Rapids. The research will benchmark Michigan against state and regional competitors in the US, engage creative industry leaders and stakeholders in evaluating the findings, discuss needs and opportunities for cultivating sector growth, highlight case study models, and disseminate and promote findings and recommendations via interactive web, online and print media. The results of the study will provide a foundation for economic strategies to grow jobs and businesses in a wide range of creative and design industries. The scope of the project includes the automotive, technology, and industrial and manufacturing sectors.