‘Arts and Economic Prosperity’ Enlightens Chenango County to Importance of Arts in Community

Commerce Chenango and the Chenango County Arts Council co-sponsored an event called “Arts and Economic Prosperity” last evening at the Canasawacta Country Club in Norwich.

Commerce Chenango president and CEO Steve Craig said the meeting was to discuss the arts and how they affect the Chenango County economy.

“We talked about how the arts and cultural organizations in the community and Chenango County generates roughly $1.8 million of economic activity per year,” Craig said. “The idea is that when people from an arts organization ask you for support it’s really not ‘charity’, you’re making an investment in an industry that ripples a lot of money through our economy.”

The guest speaker at the event was Randy Cohen from Americans for the Arts, who helped explain the impact of arts on economic prosperity.