Creativity as Infrastructure: How Place-Based Assets Drive Economic Competitiveness

If communities want to compete for talent and capital, they increasingly have to compete on place.

Across Indiana, communities are realizing that creative assets are not amenities; they are infrastructure. Community leaders are beginning to think about cultural districts, activated downtowns, public spaces, venues, and design-forward redevelopment in the same way they think about roads, broadband, and utilities. All can be foundational to economic performance.

From Fort Wayne to Madison to Elkhart, leaders are embedding creative assets into broader economic development strategies to drive meaningful economic impact. They are using adaptive reuse to strengthen Main Streets, leveraging cultural identity to drive tourism and investment, and aligning arts, entrepreneurship, and placemaking with measurable workforce and business outcomes. (Explore our resource page for deeper insights on the economic impact of creative economies, including case studies from communities leading this work.)

Join us April 28 for a panel discussion that will focus on what it takes to move creativity from the margins to the core of competitiveness, including policy alignment, cross-sector partnerships, long-term capital investment, and metrics economic developers can stand behind.

When approached intentionally, creative assets can drive sustained economic growth and strengthen long-term competitiveness.

Panelists:

• Jim Rawlinson, vice president of regional development at Indiana Economic Development Corporation
• Dan Swartz, executive director at Start Fort Wayne
• Martin Mechtenberg, senior director of entrepreneurship and innovation at the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership
• Tony Steinhardt, deputy mayor and director of economic development and redevelopment at the City of Madison

The panel will be moderated by Sarah Iglehart, managing director of government consulting at KSM.

This event is part of a Creative Economy Panel Series powered by Pattern and KSM, examining how creativity functions as critical infrastructure for Indiana’s economic growth.