culturalentrepreneur.org

Painting “First Light” by Ron Ukrainetz

At GCCE our core tenets are:

We believe talented entrepreneurs drive wealth creation;
     Therefore, we are entrepreneur focused.
We believe cultural entrepreneurs have unique opportunities and needs;
     Therefore we are experts in building cultural enterprises.
We believe markets drive profit opportunities;
     Therefore we build toward growing cultural markets.
We believe enterprise networks increase innovation and speed to market;
     Therefore, we build clusters of cultural enterprises.

But, today in Bozeman, Montana, while giving a short presentation to a group at TechRanch, I realized one tenet was missing.  Therefore, I am going to add this:

We believe all communities are culturally rich;

Therefore, all communities can thrive in the Creative Age…even communities whose economies have historically not been based on human capital, like the communities of Montana I am visiting this week.

Bozeman, Montana- the land of glacially carved valleys, towering granite peaks, and wild trout-filled rivers. 

This morning, as I leafed through a series of brochures about this, The Last Great Place, I came across these words: “While Montana may not be a cultural hub…”.  And I thought to myself, “Maybe not to someone else, but this is my culture!”  Towering peaks that tell the seasons, ranchers and cows that struggle to sustain, galleries filled with vibrant expression of place more than people, museums that recall the struggles of pioneers and Native Americans.  The West has a culture all its own and while emblematic images of cowboys and open ranges still hold true in some places a new cultural reality is arising in towns from Bozeman, Montana to Bisbee, Arizona.

Montana, like so many places in the West is faced with a changing global economy and the next iteration in the Montana economy will likely be built on creativity and culture. Within just a day in Montana I have come across more than 50 cultural enterprises – ranging from the 320 Guest Ranch to the Bozeman Opera to the myriad Yellowstone National Park tour operators.  And each of these cultural ventures equally expresses the culture of Montana.

As our Western communities move away from natural resource based economies to human capital based economies we need policies and development resources that support cultural industries.  And, we need to highlight and support the work of cultural entrepreneurs – the leaders who are envisioning and building a “society that matches the scenery” here in the West.