Virginia Business Update
Fairfax County conference focuses on creative economy

by Brett Lieberman
Virginia Business
October 25, 2007

It used to be that if a city or region wanted to build its economy, it would try to attract new businesses by cutting taxes and reducing regulations. Some incentives might be thrown in to sweeten a deal. Plus, some areas tried to create the aura of a city -on-the -move by building stadiums and convention centers.

But that ”if you build it they will come” model doesn't cut it anymore,” said Richard Florida, the keynote speaker at yesterday’s first National Conference on the Creative Economy in Fairfax County. “We are living through a remarkable though sometimes painful and dramatic societal transformation,” Florida told an audience of 360 people at the Hilton McLean at Tysons Corner.

While manufacturing continues to head overseas where labor is cheaper, the “only advantage we have left is brain power, intelligence and creativity,” said Florida, playing off one of the themes in his book, “The Rise of the Creative Class.”

Some business leaders dispute Florida’s claims. They point out that some of the less glamorous regions of the country, such as Las Vegas and Oklahoma City, are adding jobs and population while “creative centers” such as San Francisco and Boston have become too expensive for many middle-class families.

The two-day conference which continues through today is being sponsored by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. It has drawn city government representatives from as far away as Canada and Texas. They came to learn how to prepare for the transition from an industrial to a creative society in which researchers and entrepreneurs are the stimulus for growth.

Yesterday panels featured representatives of nearby companies such as Capital One Financial Corp. and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton who shared tips on fostering a creative work force .“Creativity is taking risk,” said Rob Keeling, Capital One's vice president of diversity. “Throw 10 ideas on a board – nine of which you'll never want to revisit. But you need to foster trust in employees that they can take risks.”

According to proponents of the creative class theory, workers are no longer content with a big paycheck. They want jobs to be interesting and to allow them to flex their brain muscles. Work isn't the be-all it used to be, either. Workers want sports, leisure, the arts and clean water.

In a survey of 28,000 people conducted by Florida, community aesthetics and values got top marks. People said they wanted to live in areas with a diverse population that also are senior friendly and good places to raise families. In fact, a recent national survey of U. S. workers done by Fairfax County found that 21 percent of those polled would take a lower paycheck if they could be more creative at work and 29 percent would move to a more creative community.

Fairfax, for all its low unemployment and strong growth, isn't quite there yet. “We believed that Fairfax County represented one of the creative economies,” said Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the county’s economic development authority. “But the more we researched stuff, the more we realized we had a long way to go.”

Fairfax scores high for diversity – 40 percent of residents are minorities – but its cultural scene is lacking, it's choking on traffic and a lack of affordable housing is forcing people to commute from less expensive areas such as Charlestown, W.Va. With the Tysons Corner Mall the closest thing to a downtown, the million-person county also lacks a clear identity. “Because it's so huge, and there are so many different communities, people don't think of themselves as Fairfax County,” Gordon said. “They think of themselves as Reston or Springfield.

Florida, a prominent social theorist who used to teach at George Mason University in Fairfax County and who’s now a professor at the University of Toronto, was one of several speakers. Alvin Toffler, author of “Future Shock” will give the keynote speech today on the economy of the future. For a complete conference agenda, go to www.creativeeconomies.org.