Target Industry Development

Creative Services

Creative Services are Economically Key to Portland

Creative services firms pay well, contribute to the local and international economy, provide cultural benefits to the community and bring national and international visibility. These advantages let us compete with regions with similar concentrations, like San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and New York.

The Creative Services industry cluster includes firms and people creating communication in several media: advertising, graphic design, public relations, film and video, interactive media and software.

“Creativity has come to be valued because new technologies, new industries, new wealth and all other good economic things flow from it."

— Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class  

Find out how well Portland is positioned to compete for the mobile and economically important workers known as the creative class: "The Young and the Restless: How Portland Competes for Talent."

Creative Services Industry in Portland

• 1,500 firms and a total of 14,000 employees
• Revenues of $2 billion and a payroll of $976,808,000 (1)
• Average creative services wage $66,663/yr. compared to regional average wage of $40,639
• Art directors, producers and directors, fashion designers, and multimedia artists and animators lead the high-wage, arts-related occupations in the state. Employment in these high-wage creative occupations is expected to add around 855 jobs by 2014. (2)
• Greater percent of freelancers or self-employed professionals than other industry clusters.
• More than half of the state's graphic design firms are concentrated in the Portland metro area.
• Creative Services fact sheet

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(1) US Census 2002.
(2) Oregon Employment Department 2006.

Learn more about Portland's commitment to creative companies by reviewing the following reports or contacting specific creative associations listed below.

Portland's Economic Development Strategy: Creative Services (2002)

Original report on the Creative Services industry in Portland:
"Designing Portland's Future: The Role of the Creative Services Industry" (1999)

Creative Industry organization links:

American Institute of Graphic Arts, Portland Chapter — www.portland.aiga.org
American Marketing Association, Oregon Chapter — www.ama-pdx.org
American Society of Media Photographers, Oregon Chapter — www.asmporegon.com
Developers Group Northwest — www.devgroupnw.org
Goto+Play online community — www.gotoandplay.net
Graphic Artists Guild, Portland Chapter — www.gag.org/portland
Internet Professionals Northwest — www.ipn.org
Media Communications Association, Portland Chapter — www.mcai-pdx.org
Oregon/Columbia International Association of
     Business Communicators — www.ociabc.org
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network — www.oen.org
Oregon Film & Video Office — www.oregonfilm.org
     Oregon Film Community Calendar — www.oregonfilm.org/calendar
Oregon Media Production Association — www.ompa.org
Portland Advertising Federation — www.portlandadfed.com
Public Relations Society of America, Portland Chapter — www.prsa-portland.org
Self Employed Creative Professionals — www.secppdx.com
Society for Technical Communication, Willamette Valley Chapter — www.stcwvc.org
The Software Association of Oregon — www.sao.org

PDC Business Team Contact

Anne Mangan at 503-823-2594 or by email

 

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