A recent study commissioned of the economic impact of Oregon Culture conducted ECONorthwest and commissioned by the Cultural Advocacy Coalition reports that the aggregate impacts of Oregon’s cultural nonprofit organizations, encompassing arts, culture, heritage, and the humanities totaled $1.2 billion in sales and $466 million in wages.

The study focused on the economic impacts of nonprofits recognized by the Cultural Trust as well as the secondary economic activity tied to their work, throughout Oregon.

The report found over 19,000 Oregonians working in the cultural sector-roughly equivalent to Oregon’s legal sector. Of this number, 8,750 are employed by a nonprofit that is eligible for support through the Cultural Trust. These nonprofits generated $580.5 million in sales and $272.8 million in taxable employee income.

When supply-chain and consumption driven spending was calculated, ECONorthwest estimated the nonprofits’ total economic impact at $1.2 billion in sales, with taxable income climbing to $466 million-generating $57.2 million in tax and fee revenues for state and local governments.These estimates were based on multiplier effects which found that $1 million in sales by a cultural nonprofit generated an additional $1.1 million in sales for other Oregon businesses.Additionally, jobs at cultural nonprofits are linked to jobs in other sectors of Oregon’s economy. For every 10 jobs in a nonprofit that is eligible for Cultural Trust grants, there are seven jobs in other economic sectors tied to those jobs.

This study was commissioned to measure impact of the cultural sector on Oregon’s economy as the 2013 Legislature considers reauthorization of Oregon’s unique cultural tax credit, which is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2013.