How the arts boost economic development

COLUMBIA -- Morihiko Nakahara wants to help bring business to Columbia.

No, he's not a banker or an expert on roads or water and sewer. And he's not the go-to guy on the area's work force.

Nakahara knows Bach, bassoons and batons.

Into his third season as conductor of the S.C. Philharmonic, Nakahara believes he could help recruit new industry by showing off the Midlands' depth.

"There's this concept (that) Columbia is all Gamecock football," he said.

"We have a little of an inferiority complex in Columbia when we compare ourselves to Greenville or Charleston," Nakahara added. "We have a lot to offer. We're an engine that could play an important part."

Nakahara's pitch here for the arts: You have all the staples -- orchestras, art museums, ballet companies -- to go along with the fringe arts you could find in a college town.

"You can target different demographics."

Nakahara said he's following the direction of the Pittsburgh Symphony, whose Austrian-born musical director has been used to lure European businesses.

He also was inspired after speaking to a statewide women's lawyer group this year where he raised the idea of the philharmonic as a way to entertain clients not interested in sports: "Everyone works differently."

"I'm not a business person at all," he added. "People are relocating with their families. This goes to the heart of quality of life issues."

While the arts are part of the mix, businesses tend to look at quality of life issues in a different way at first, said Jim Gambrell, Columbia's economic development director.

Take Mast General Store: Executives asked first about the community's work force, costs and business-friendliness, he said. Businesses also want to know early on about public safety, highways and utilities.

But recruiters never know what can put an area over the top.

And that's where culture and recreation play a role in a second wave of information gathering, Gambrell said.

Mast was won over with trips to the Riverbanks Zoo and the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center on the USC campus where executives got to see their potential customers, he said.

"Economic development is an art form, not a science," he said.

Arts in South Carolina are getting noticed by recruiters. During a visit to Greenville last month, Germany's Atlanta-based consul general told The Greenville News that the Upstate's cultural offerings in arts and music made the region attractive to investment from Europe.

Gambrell said he welcomes Nakahara's involvement because nothing beats "one-on-one conversations." Southwest Airlines officials met with members of the region's cultural council during a visit to Columbia last year, he said.

"This is a team sport," Gambrell said.

Karen Brosius also sees the Columbia Museum of Art that she runs as part of that team. Brosius said she is heading to Italy soon for an international conference focusing on the role of arts in economic development.

The arts have become an "an integral part of the city's infrastructure," she said. "Businesses are looking beyond the traditional bricks and mortar."

And Nakahara added that he could speak with businesses as a relative newcomer to the Midlands.

"It's important to have a wide representation with different views and perspectives on why you should choose Columbia, why you should choose South Carolina," he said.