IMPLAN is at it again. This time, Tom Tveidt, now working for SYNEVA, is using it to justify a performing arts center for Asheville. The idea has been in the works for a long time, and a nonprofit known as the Asheville Area Center for the Performing Arts, has been working as its pursuit group.
Over the last ten years, the AACPA managed to raise $4 million, but feels it must raise the remainder for the $55 million facility through the public sector. Its director, who once commanded a salary of $200,000, is now volunteering his time, and Mayor Esther Manheimer has indicated the city doesn’t have enough dough. Once again, my argument is that Dallas has a lot of world-class performing arts centers because it is home to oil tycoons. Here in Asheville, we want the same kind of stuff, but we want to pay for it with taxes on head shops and tattoo parlors.
Tveidt, claiming a conservative estimate, argues the center will bring $19.5 million a year into the economy and create 351 direct, 91 indirect, and 57 induced jobs. It is not expected that the new venue will change the tourism industry, nor is it expected that tourists will spend any less at other local venues. If we were wiring a circuit with those two statements, we’d hear a zap and see smoke. Regardless, it is hoped the venue will pull people out of South Carolina and maybe Durham.
Now, in case you doubt Tveidt’s projections, the local daily has provided an analysis of his methods:
Tom Tveidt, research economist with SYNEVA, which produced a three-month study to determine the best performance center design, estimated it would generate $19.5 million in new visitor spending. That estimate is based on visitor numbers at the U.S. Cellular Center and data from Durham Performing Arts Center.
Tveidt uses IMPLAN to produce economic impact estimates. The 35-year-old IMPLAN is software that produces data for more than 2,000 public and private institutions, including the Asheville Chamber of Commerce.
This program defines economic impact in several ways: Direct impact, meaning income associated with new jobs and new spending; indirect, meaning supplier purchases, goods and services; induced, meaning household spending and purchases. It also accounts for tax revenue.
Deep.
