Orange County NC Website
11 <br /> <br />• 1124 jobs created 1 <br />• $12.75 million in funding in 2017, $20 million in annual revenue from the 62% of 2 <br />the companies that continue to operate 3 <br />• Graduated 75 companies, and 46 continue to be in operation – 10 of these 4 <br />companies are in downtown Chapel Hill, and are contributing about $100,000 to 5 <br />the downtown economy 6 <br />• 5 years of success have brought national attention 7 <br />• Entrepreneur magazine designated Chapel Hill as one of the top 5 8 <br />entrepreneurial cities in the US 9 <br />• Chapel Hill is one of the top 5 university-facilitated accelerators in the US 10 <br /> 11 <br />Dwight Bassett said he meets with every cohort, and encourages the businesses to 12 <br />remain in Orange County and to contact and work with the Economic Development offices 13 <br />directly. 14 <br />Mayor Hemminger said the Town has an Innovation Council for entrepreneurs, and 15 <br />there is a great deal of entrepreneurship in the community that is not connected to the 16 <br />University. 17 <br />Commissioner Price said she hopes the Town and the County can continue to work 18 <br />together to keep these growing businesses in Orange County, as opposed to moving 19 <br />elsewhere. 20 <br />Mayor Hemminger said Dwight Bassett and Steve Brantley, Orange County Economic 21 <br />Development Director, encourage this. 22 <br /> 23 <br />b) Arts 24 <br />Background: The nationwide Arts and Economic Prosperity Survey 5 confirmed that the 25 <br />nonprofit arts sector of Orange County is an annual $130 million industry that generates $5 26 <br />million for local government and draws almost two million attendees each year. 27 <br />Despite this impact and the large number of artists who call Orange County home, the local arts 28 <br />industry is missing key components needed to grow and sustain a thriving, authentic arts 29 <br />culture. The Orange County Arts Commission (OCAC) has recently concluded research to 30 <br />determine these areas of need. By working in collaboration with town staff, local officials, and 31 <br />area arts organizations, the OCAC plans to begin work to address these identified challenges, 32 <br />resulting in a healthier arts industry and an even greater economic impact. 33 <br /> 34 <br />Katie Murray, Arts Commission Director, made the following PowerPoint presentation: 35 <br /> 36 <br />The State of the Arts in Orange County 37 <br /> 38 <br />ECONOMIC IMPACT of the Arts 39 <br />• $130.3 Million in Spending in 2015 40 <br />• Arts Attendees: 1.9 Million in 2015 41 <br /> 42 <br />ARTS and GOVERNMENT 43 <br />• Total revenue generated for local government in 2015: $5.3 Million 44 <br />• Total revenue generated for state government in 2015: $7.1 Million 45 <br /> 46 <br />ARTS and TOURISM 47 <br />• Audiences: Local vs. Non-local 48 <br /> 49