The information at hand is a measure of "creative jobs as a percent of total jobs by county." It is, if you will, a measure of to what extent creative-class jobs have infiltrated the state's economy, once dominated by manufacturing and agriculture.
Statewide in 2009, not quite six percent of the jobs in urban counties were in creative occupations. In rural areas -- and more than half our 100 counties still qualify as rural -- only four percent of the jobs are in creative occupations.
Durham, let it said bluntly and unequivocally, stacks up pretty well.
In fact, we lead the state -- by a lot.
According to data analyzed by the Institute for Emerging Issues for its upcoming annual forum, 12 percent of jobs in Durham County -- virtually one out of nine -- are in creative occupations. That's more than double the rate for urban counties in the state.
And it is more than two percentage points -- more than 20 percent -- higher than in second-place Orange County, at 9.9 percent -- the second-highest percentage in the state.
It's worth noting that our neighbors to the east do well, too, with 7.2 percent creative-class occupations in Wake County. In short, the Triangle is a haven for creative occupations in the state -- and Durham is a star of the Triangle.
The Institute for Emerging Issues teased out that data as a part of its upcoming annual Emerging Issues Forum, this year called "Creativity Inc." The institute is the brainchild of former Gov. Jim Hunt, launched at the close of his first two-term stint as governor. For a quarter-century, it has organized annual events to bring thinkers and doers into an extended discussion of a crucial issue -- and then to formulate policy recommendations for legislation on those issues.
This year's forum, which will be Monday and Tuesday in Raleigh, will dwell on the economic-development importance of creative occupations.
"Creative people make economic innovation happen," Hunt observed to an editorial board preview of the forum in on Jan. 28. Noting the disappearance of the textile, tobacco and furniture cornerstones of the state's economy, Hunt noted, "we have to learn to think for a living."
The ability of potential workers to respond to those needs is important as the state tries to persuade businesses to move here. Department of Commerce industry recruiters report that "so many prospects ask, 'what about your work force,'" said Anita Brown-Graham, the institute's executive director.
The challenge, she said, is "less about recruiting creativity than about developing creativity." Hunt said he wants the state's schools to "start teaching creativity."
A paper prepared by the institute as background for the conference outlines the changes in the state that make a new focus, such as on a creative workforce, such an important priority.
"North Carolina is no stranger to economic change. The state has already witnessed global forces undermine its agriculture, textiles, electronics and manufacturing industries."
Next came what the paper referred to as the "knowledge economy" playing to the state's strengths of universities, research labs and an "entrepreneurial business culture." That dominance, too, is passing, moving offshore to "highly trained and lower paid workers in countries around the world."
In its wake comes the "creative economy" where "more and more jobs are beginning to depend on a complex and creative set of 'right-brain' skills -- including problem solving, communications, inventiveness, and collaboration."
We'll be providing a variety of reports this week on the forum, whose participants include such heavyweights as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Tony Atala, director of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University's medical school. There, Hunt noted, they are literally "growing organs" as replacements for failing human organs.
The forum will be exploring heady and important territory.
And it is especially important to us in Durham, where our state-leading rate of 12 percent creative occupations helps to define us -- and to hold open the door to bright future.
It opens that door, of course, only if we continue to nurture and encourage the environment that has brought us that ranking in the first place.
Bob Ashley is editor of The Herald-Sun. Contact him at (919) 419-6678 or by e-mail at bashley@heraldsun.com.
