have seen their economies slowly recover as people start businesses in the creative industries, including art, ethical clothing, furniture and locally sourced food.getty
Local businesses line the main streets in Catskill, NY. Along the Catskill Creek, which flows into the Hudson River, you'll find a cidery, Left Bank. An article in the local Hudson Valley magazine states that the company was founded in 2020 by husband and wife Tim Graham and Anna Rosencranz after they started making homemade cider from rotten apples for fun. Her friend Dave Snyder also joined the company as a founder. One evening after Thanksgiving, the cidery was bustling with activity.
One street further on, the Nettle Pharmacy stocks herbal tinctures, creams and teas, among other things. A sign advertises that geranium essential oil can improve mood, and I believe it does. Stinging Nettle is opposite a shop that sells handcrafted tables, some made from glossy, hard black walnut. And coffee houses, art galleries and curated antique histories line the way down.
In the wake of the pandemic and as a new wave of AI-powered automation sweeps the U.S. economy, more people have turned to the idea of starting their own businesses, particularly in hands-on creative professions. The rate of entrepreneurship reached its highest level in 24 years in 2022, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation reported. I thought about this on my Thanksgiving trip to Catskill, where there aren't a chain store or many computers in sight.
A decade ago, the operators of these businesses and the people who work there would have been considered “stayers.” The jobs and money were in knowledge-based jobs in the city. But artificial intelligence will replace many entry-level jobs that involve routine cognitive tasks, particularly in marketing, coding and sales.
is taking over some of the online economy as people re-enter the physical world.getty
The creative or maker economy could be an antidote to the job market. The United States may be lagging behind in supporting these small innovators, artists and entrepreneurs. Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, have poured money into the developing arts economy, and others, such as France, have built trade defenses based on what Americans perhaps dismissively view as crafts.
However, I have seen this type of economic development at work in small towns across the country. Across the river in Hudson, NY, there is an initiative to help a local film industry, led by actress Mary Stuart Masterson, establish a studio. In Frankfort, Kentucky, bourbon is a resurgent industry. There are furniture manufacturers, farms and bakeries all over the country.
Laura Callanan is at the forefront of efforts in America to recognize this part of the economy as important. She started talking about the creative economy back in 2016, with the idea that if investors like foundations, institutions like museums, and wealthy families put more money into small startup businesses, they would spark healthy economic development that would create jobs for the Middle class and supports people who find it difficult to climb the career ladder.
She founded a New York City-based nonprofit called Upstart Co-Lab with the goal of creating a new category of investing among impact investors, people who wanted to make money and do good.
A former vice chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
Callanan defined the creative industries as fashion, food, film and television, video games and other creative industries. She is halfway toward her goal of launching a $100 million fund to invest in other funds such as the Colorado Enterprise Fund and directly in creative industry companies. Some of them are online, but many have physical products, such as Paskho, a clothing manufacturer.
The fund's investors include foundations that make program-related investments; donor-advised funds that provide recoverable grants; and endowed nonprofit arts and cultural organizations.
These days, Callanan seems prescient in the United States. Funds like Upstart's already exist in Europe, Latin America and Africa. The attractiveness of small business could increase as fears about the economic impact of artificial intelligence grow. When you ask Chat GPT which professions are most spared from the effects of artificial intelligence, creative professions such as artists and musicians are listed at the top.
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