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Howard County Among ‘Leading Creative Class’ Areas

See where Howard County ranks when it comes to the ‘creative’ sector of its workforce.

 

Do you think Howard County excels at attracting a creative class that fuels innovation and economic development?

The Atlantic Cities publication does, and recently published on its blog the top 20 counties when it came to the creative class. Howard County came in 9th place. The other Maryland place on the national list was Montgomery County, which came in 11th.

“Nationwide, the creative class totals more than 40 million workers, more than a third of the total workforce, including professionals in the fields of science and technology, design and architecture, arts, entertainment and media, and healthcare, law, management and education,” wrote Richard Florida, editor at large of The Atlantic Cities.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, on his Facebook page, highlighted the ranking.

“Our 9th place ranking acknowledges our commitment to innovation, creativity, and problem-solving - great ingredients that lead to more jobs and a stronger economy,” Ulman said.

Do you think Howard County is a place that encourages innovation and the rising of the creative class? Tell us in comments.

 

Related Topics: Creative Class and Howard County

H.R. Pufnstuf

2:41 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

OK, so what specifically has Howard County created?

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Lisa Rossi

3:00 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Hi H.R. - good question. The creative class refers to jobs "including professionals in the fields of science and technology, design and architecture, arts, entertainment and media, and healthcare, law, management and education." I guess a good question would be, do you think Howard County offers a good economic climate for these types of creative class jobs/companies?

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Chris T. Gaines

4:38 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

So really, this is just a more politically correct way of saying "white collar" jobs, correct? It really has very little to do with the Arts (although I can see people are already touting the area's minimal contribution under that profession).

To H.R.'s point, I would suspect that the things being "created" in the DC area differ vastly from those in the Bay Area.

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Andrew Metcalf

3:05 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Hey Pufnstuf,

Ellicott City has some quality local artists, Columbia has produced a famous actor (Ed Norton) and a pulitzer-prize winning author (Michael Chabon). These are just a few examples.

Although I do find the definition of the creative class that Atlantic Cities uses a bit odd - such as including law, management and healthcare workers. It comes from Florida's own 2004 book "The Rise of the Creative Class."

I guess I think of creatives as musicians, writers, actors, poets, teachers, professors, scientists and entrepreneurs.

On Florida's website he describes the creative class as "Leading this transformation are the 40 million Americans – over a third of our national workforce – who create for a living. This “creative class” is found in a variety of fields, from engineering to theater, biotech to education, architecture to small business. Their choices have already had a huge economic impact. In the future, they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither."

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H.R. Pufnstuf

3:34 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

This award is obviously a pile of nonsense. I don't think the artists in EC have anything do with Ken Ulman's comments "Our 9th place ranking acknowledges our commitment to innovation, creativity, and problem-solving - great ingredients that lead to more jobs and a stronger economy". And as for Ed Norton, he left Howard County and lives elsewhere.

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Matt Wilson

3:41 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It's not an award. It's a measurement of which counties have a higher concentration of jobs that reward creativity and brainpower.

Moi

4:17 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

HoCo also has a very active Arts Council, incredibly talented Art teachers at all levels, a library system that is known across the country for its wide range of creativity-related classes and events and its commitment to creativity and the arts is evidenced by the beautiful theaters built at HCC and WLHS, which are regularly utilized for local and national talent.

What a shame that the trolls will take the most benign of topics and make it political.

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H.R. Pufnstuf

4:34 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

I guess who the troll is depends on your persective.

Kathy Culler

6:16 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Although HCC and WLHS have built beautiful theaters, HCC does not allow local and community dance schools to use their facility. Rouse Theater is also not available to most schools. Most private dance schools are being forced to perform at facilities in the surrounding counties. For a county that is so rich in many areas, there is a very large lack of support for the performing arts.

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