Archive
Preservation benefits the economy of Colorado, USA
Last week the Colorado Historical Foundation and History Colorado released a major report on the economic impacts of historic preservation in the U.S. State of Colorado. The report is entitled The Economic Power of Heritage and Place: How Historic Preservation is Building a Sustainable Future in Colorado. Key findings of the report include:
- Since 1981, historic preservation projects in Colorado have created nearly 35,000 jobs and generated approximately $2.5 billion in direct and indirect economic impacts to Colorado’s economy.
- Every $1 million spent on the preservation of buildings in Colorado generates approximately 32 new jobs.
- Historic preservation projects help to enhance cultural vitality and identity, which in turn works to attract tourists and inspire community-based volunteerism.
- Environmental sustainability goals can be incorporated into historic preservation practices.
Additionally, for comparison, there is also a relatively new (2010) update to the 2002 report entitled Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida published by the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources with the assistance of the Florida Historical Commission. Both the Colorado and Florida reports substantiate and quantify the fact that historic preservation makes economic sense.
Boom times in Brazil
Brazil is the world’s seventh largest economy. It is also one of the fastest growing economies with a GDP growth rate of about 5 percent. Interesting news tidbits have been surfacing about contract archaeology in Brazil. Dr. Janet Levy (UNC Charlotte) recently told me that she learned at the last American Anthropological Association meeting that there is a demand for archaeology faculty in Brazil because archaeologists are selecting to work in the private sector instead of academia. I found this interesting and interviewed Dr. Eduardo Góes Neves, a Brazilian archaeologist, at the Society for American Archaeology’s conference in Panamá a few weeks ago. Indeed, he reported that private-sector archaeology is doing very well in Brazil driven by strong federal laws and the strong economy. There are mature companies across the country, some of which are quite large with multiple office locations. He also noted that there is currently a wave of acquisition of these firms taking place by companies based in Spain and Portugal.
Given this interesting business news from Brazil, I’m pleased to note that Dr. Renato Kipnis is joining Heritage Business Journal to cover the heritage industry in Brazil. Dr. Kipnis is a Director of Scientia Consultoria Científica Ltda. in São Paulo and will be keeping us up-to-date on business issues.
2012 increase in built environment compliance services forecast for the U.S.
While government spending in the United States, like many other countries, is contracting from austerity measures, there are some areas of growth. In a 2011 webinar by Deltek based upon the U.S. President’s 2012 Budget Request, the only areas of spending growth in the construction and rehabilitation of physical assets (the things that drive Section 106 undertakings) were energy and health facilities. Energy spending, which is primarily for fulfilling energy efficiency and renewable energy mandates, will expand 41.2 percent over 2010 actuals to $10.5 billion. A large portion of the funding will be spent on renovating and retrofitting older government buildings, many of which are historic. Spending on veterans hospitals and other health care facilities will expand 69.0 percent to $3.1 billion. Many of these facilities also are historic. If this increase in funding is realized, heritage compliance companies in the U.S. should see a rise in demand for services focused on the built environment. Federal spending on projects producing significant amounts of archaeological compliance work may be decreasing in 2012, but this should be offset by a large increase in demand for compliance services involving historians, architectural historians, and historic architects.
Heritage Business Journal 