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Summit County arts nonprofits drove $176.8 million in direct economic activity, presenters say
Summary
Presenters for the Summit County Arts Council told the County Council that the Americans for the Arts AEP6 study attributes $176.8 million in direct economic activity to arts nonprofits and their audiences in Summit County, plus roughly 2,003 jobs and millions in tax revenue; staff said the findings will inform an arts and culture master plan and possible new funding mechanisms.
Jocelyn of the Summit County Arts Council and consultant Jake McIntyre presented results from the Americans for the Arts 'Arts & Economic Prosperity 6' (AEP6) study, which the presenters said shows a substantial economic contribution from the county’s cultural nonprofits.
According to the presentation, AEP6 attributes $176.8 million in direct economic activity to nonprofit arts organizations and the audiences they draw in Summit County. Jocelyn said the study’s breakdown is about $34 million in nonprofit organizational spending and $142 million in audience spending. The presenters reported the study estimated roughly 2,003 jobs supported by the arts sector and $6.6 million in local tax revenue; they also cited additional state and federal tax impacts reported in the AEP6 data.
Jocelyn and McIntyre described the study’s methods: local teams collected nearly 800 intercept attendee surveys at nonprofit cultural events and enlisted 20 local nonprofit organizations to participate; results were benchmarked against 373 participating U.S. regions. Jocelyn emphasized the county intentionally excluded surveys conducted during the Sundance Film Festival (Sundance provides its own economic study), noting the AEP6 results therefore reflect nonprofit-event impacts outside of Sundance.
Presenters highlighted other findings: an estimated 46,000 volunteer hours (valued about $1.4 million), and an average per-person-per-event spending figure of $84.09 countywide (presenters said that averaged $51 for local attendees and $107 for nonlocal attendees). They reported 59% of attendees surveyed were nonlocal visitors and that 25.9% of those nonlocal attendees stayed overnight because of the event they attended.
The arts council framed the data as a tool for local advocacy. Jocelyn said the study provides a consistent methodology that helps argue for increased investment in arts and culture; she pointed to a county RAP tax as the council’s current core funding source and said the master-planning work will explore policy and new funding options to support growth. Jake McIntyre noted the county is also running complementary economic work with the University of Utah’s Kem Gardner Policy Institute to compare industry-side metrics and planned master-plan consultants (Designing Local) will fold AEP6 into broader recommendations.
Council members asked technical questions about methodology, job definitions and height of the reported figures; staff offered to provide the Americans for the Arts definitions and the full report for follow-up. Jocelyn said a 50-page technical report would be shared with council members for additional review.
The council did not take formal action on funding at the meeting; staff indicated AEP6 findings would be incorporated into the county’s arts master planning and returned to council for any policy or budget decisions.
