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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-10-002 - Prosperity Council Task Force on Creatitive Enterprise FundingREPORT REPORT TO: Community Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: January 11, 2010 SUBMITTED BY: Pauline Houston, General Manager, Community Services PREPARED BY: Ingrid Pregel, Manager, Cultural Development (Ext. 3383) WARD(S) INVOLVED: N/A DATE OF REPORT: January 4, 2010 REPORT NO.: CSD-10-002 SUBJECT: PROSPERITY COUNCIL TASK FORCE ON CREATIVE ENTERPRISE FUNDING RECOMMENDATION: That an annual grant in the amount of $54,000 be approved for the creation and ongoing operations of an “Enabling Organization” for the creative sector, to be funded for 2010 as a one time transfer from the capital fund called Arts and Culture Capacity Building Fund and in future years from the Community Grants Pool; and, That the transfer of funds remaining in the Arts and Culture Capacity Building Fund into an Arts and Culture Sustainability Fund be approved as an initial contribution by the City of Kitchener to support the commitment of an additional $1 per capita investment in creative enterprise; and, That consideration of ongoing funding for the Arts and Culture Sustainability Fund beyond 2011 be referred to the 2012 operating budget process; and further, That funding in the annual amount of $8,757.00 be approved for 2010 for Waterloo Regional Arts Council (WRAC) from the Community Grants Pool, six months to be paid initially and subsequent quarters to be paid upon confirmation by staff that the organization continues to operate. BACKGROUND: In November 2008 Council received Report No. CSD-08-092 for information purposes. The report described the progress of the Prosperity Council’s Task Force on Creative Enterprise, provided a copy of the research commissioned on selected creative cities in North America and Europe and indicated the role Mayor Zehr, Pauline Houston, General Manager of CSD, and Ingrid Pregel, Manager Cultural Development, would play in the continuing work of the Steering Committee, Task Forces and Sub Committees established to develop the detailed strategy to support Creative Enterprise. î ó ï On November 8, 2009 Council received a letter from the Prosperity Council and a report of activities (attached as Appendix A) which summarized the work of the Task Force on Creative Enterprise and proposed roles for the various levels of government and the private sector in funding the following: creation and ongoing administration of an “enabling organization” an additional $3.0 million annual contribution to sustain arts and culture organizations On December 3, 2009 members of City Council attended a joint Council meeting and participated in a discussion of a presentation by the Prosperity Council Task Force on Creative Enterprise in support of the November funding proposal. The Task Force reported on the work of its Sub Committees on Vision, Structure and Resources, described two key recommendations (Establishment of “Barnraisers’ Council of Waterloo Region” and Establishment of an “enabling organization” for the creative sector) and reviewed its funding proposal. This report provides recommendations to respond to the funding proposal. REPORT: The Prosperity Council’s initiative on Creative Enterprise continues to be a broad based opportunity for our community to come together to envision and then enable the building of creative enterprises that are so vital to the quality of life of our residents and instrumental in competing globally for the best and brightest talent for our business partners. The Prosperity Council’s presentation and summary report make a number of points that are consistent with City of Kitchener goals and strategies, as follows: the ultimate goal is to generate private sector employment in Creative Age industries. The basic strategy to accomplish this goal is to provide a catalyst that creates these new jobs in these new economies. the catalyst includes building a quality of life second to none for all our citizens and attracting the best and brightest talent for the new jobs the process of doing this work draws in leadership from all community sectors as partners and engages more than just those who participate in the arts, culture and heritage sectors in Waterloo Region new resources are needed to sustain the wonderful creative work we already have and support innovative thinking from new and diverse populations, including focusing community efforts to gain our “fair share” of provincial and federal resources and to ramp up contributions from the private sector and local governments In Report No. CSD-08-079 (September 2008 attached as Appendix B) Council approved that funds in the amount of $267,000 remaining from the original Cultural Capitals of Canada application be reallocated to create an “Arts and Culture Capacity Building Fund” with the following goals: achieve a meaningful contribution to sustainability and capacity building for the arts and culture sector obtain significant leverage of City of Kitchener resources, e.g. 10 to 1 support collaborative efforts with other funding partners including municipalities, private and public foundations and businesses The proposal brought forward by the Prosperity Council is consistent with the goals of the Arts and Culture Capacity Building Fund: î ó î The objective of the proposed “enabling organization” is to focus on the arts, culture and heritage sector organizations – to sustain, through increased operating funding and provision of services, existing organizations and to provide the environment to enable new creative initiatives. Although a work in progress, the funding proposal is that the City of Kitchener’s share of the increased funding to achieve sustainable operating funding for these organizations should reach $1 per capita of a total increase of $3.0 million, or about $250,000. This plan meets Council’s goal of significant leverage for the fund. Collaboration on this initiative includes the private sector, all levels of government and although initially focused on the arts, culture and heritage sectors, there is recognition that other not for profit organizations may quickly become beneficiaries of the services of the “enabling organization”. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The capital fund in the amount of $267,000 was approved by Council as the Arts and Culture Capacity building fund in 2008. A contribution to the operating expenses of the Enabling Organization for 2010 would be drawn from this capital account. In subsequent budget years these operating expenses will be drawn from the Community Grants Program as the two year commitment to the Magnetic North Theatre Festival will then be complete and the funds currently allocated to WRAC (Waterloo Regional Arts Council) will be available once WRAC winds down operations sometime in 2010 as the “enabling organization” begins operations. This report recommends approving WRAC funding for 2010 which was discussed by Community Services Committee on November 16, 2009 (CSD-09-064) and deferred by Council on November 23, 2009. That report recommended annual funding in the amount of $8,757.00. As discussions by the WRAC Board about timing of winding down the organization are ongoing, staff recommends approval of the annual amount and release of funds for six months with release of subsequent quarterly amounts upon confirmation by staff of continuing operations. Subsequent to Council approval, a Tier 1 grant agreement will be developed with WRAC to confirm these arrangements. The remainder of the $267,000 fund ($213,000) would be available to support Council decisions to increase sustainable operating funding to key arts, culture and heritage organizations for a period of time, perhaps two years. The eventual goal of the Prosperity Council proposal is that City of Kitchener funding would reach an incremental amount annually approximating $1 per capita. Additional funding would need to be allocated in future budget years beginning 2012 to build toward this eventual goal of approximately $250,000 annually and staff recommends consideration of future funding be referred to the 2012 Operating Budget Process. The arts and culture community has from time to time over the years occupied the Legion Building, that is located on Ontario Street and owned by the City of Kitchener, for a variety of purposes such as rehearsals and meetings. Staff has held preliminary discussions for several years about the highest and best use of that facility and the potential to offer a modest sized site to serve as an arts incubator. Located as it is between arts organizations located on downtown King Street and those located in the Civic District, the Legion Building could offer an important link between the two. î ó í The recently announced additional CAF (Community Adjustment Fund) funds have again raised the possibility of renovations of the Legion Building as an excellent project to secure this strategic resource for arts community use. And if approved by Council and successful in its funding application, this asset could be included as part of the City of Kitchener’s contribution towards the $1 per capital goal of increased funding to sustain the arts sector organizations. Details of the CAF projects have been presented to Finance and Corporate Services Committee in a separate report January 11, 2010. COMMUNICATIONS: Since the beginning of this work the Prosperity Council has periodically engaged members of the arts, culture and heritage sector as well as business representatives and civic leaders in this work. In 2008, 130 leaders came together to review research and plan next steps. In 2009, over 250 people participated in the Forum to hear proposals. Since that time reports and research have been posted on Creative Enterprise web sites. As recently as December 19, 2009 the City of Kitchener under the auspices of Culture Plan II sponsored a forum for the creative sector to consider communication barriers and Prosperity Council research documents were among those offered as resource materials. CONCLUSION: The work of the Prosperity Council has engaged a large cross section of leaders in our community to tackle the final area of need identified by the Council’s work in 2003 – additional focus and investment in our cultural sector. The proposal put forward to City of Kitchener Council is consistent with the goals of Council’s Arts and Culture Capacity Building Fund. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Pauline Houston, General Manager, Community Services î ó ì î ó ë î ó ê î ó é î ó è î ó ç î ó ïð î ó ïï î ó ïî î ó ïí î ó ïì î ó ïë î ó ïê î ó ïé î ó ïè