1Akron Nurtures the Rising Creative Class
By Dave Sutula // 1akron.com
Two of the hottest topics today among regional and local economic developers are creative class and business cluster dynamics. In his award-winning book, The Rise of the Creative Class, Carnegie Mellon professor of regional economic development, Richard Florida, makes a compelling case for the counter-intuitive source of success factors in regional and local economies. Florida champions the importance of recognizing business clusters, community ecosystems of associated businesses, as a dynamic source of regional and local economic well-being.
In both these important areas, creative class and business clusters, the collective power of the small is validated and encouraged. And in both these domains of new economic development thinking, the power and importance of networking is recognized. We are, indeed, in a new era of the Network Society and its associated Network Economy.
Many who have read Dr. Florida's book are left with a feeling of, "Great, that is fascinating... and very urban. What about folks like me that live in small towns and rural areas? How do creative class dynamics affect me?"
In the 1Akron neighborhood developed by Tony Troppe and a cast of hundreds that he has assembled for various projects and under various partnerships, the answer to that question is self evident. Troppe's vision meshes step-for-step with Florida's theories; build a place where creative knowledge workers feel at home and supplement it with flexible financial terms and people will come.
This article could take many different turns at this point. We could spend time talking about the galleries he has either founded or attracted, the small-scale theater and mid-size music venue in the neighborhood that attracts entertainment seekers or the restaurant culture that the neighborhood is more or less founded upon, but what is extraordinary in my opinion is the concentration of creatives - and creative companies that have chosen to locate here.
I am particularly amazed because I've been personally touched by Florida's theory in action via Tony Troppe and 1Akron. I am a partner in a small creative firm, 'peeps creative, that is located in Castle Hall - above Crave at the corner of High and Market Streets. I did not locate in this neighborhood because I knew Tony, or because I responded to an ad or knew someone who suggested the move. I was simply drawn to the place. I wasn't even looking to relocate my firm from my Highland Square neighborhood when I took the space. In fact, in my office it is famously quoted that the very week that we signed a deal to move to Castle Hall, I made a definitive declaration that we would build a bigger studio before we ever leased a space. Two weeks later we were doing business at 57 East Market Street.
The move was like magic. The first call we received on our new phone system (literally, the installer was still in the office when the phone rang) was one of our long-time smaller clients calling to ask us to bid a much larger project - one that we eventually won and that relationship has grown to be a very important piece of our business.
The thing is that we are not alone. Within a three minute walk of our studio are no less than three other agencies of similar size and business model as 'peeps. Keathley Advertising is one floor above our offices, Whitespace Creative is in the building behind us and The Hardmann Group has headquarters below them. Together our four firms employ more than 60 people. It's like a miniature, Akron-sized Madison Avenue.
It's not just the agencies, though. There are dozens of other creatives milling about on any given day. We've done business with film and video professionals and architects that we've met in the neighborhood, we've met interface designers, photographers, musicians, writers and just about any other discipline that you can think of. And all this amidst hundreds of what I would term (but is admittedly somewhat minimizing and non-descriptive) non-creatives. That is, other business people doing work that is not in the creative services sphere - it's all very cosmopolitan.
The 1Akron neighborhood has been rebuilt expressly to attract knowledge workers in the rising creative class and it is a study in the effectiveness of that theory. It is a great place to do business because the location seems to draw energy into it and store it - for all to feed upon.
If this all sounds a little too new-age, I'd invite you to take a little space in the area, put up a sign and do business here. Whether you describe your success in academic vocabulary like Richard Florida or in more transcendental terms like Tony Troppe, I think you will agree that 1Akron is the right move for any forward-thinking business.