For years, we have talked about economic development as if it were a construction project.
Bring in a factory. Recruit a company. Build more office space. Create more “traditional” jobs.
Those things matter. But if that is still our definition of economic growth in 2026, we are missing one of the Central Coast’s biggest economic advantages.
Creativity.
In Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, the creative economy is generating jobs, businesses, tourism and investment while too often being dismissed as culture, entertainment or something nice to have after the “real” economic work is done.
That thinking is outdated—and expensive.
Monterey County’s creative cultural sector generated an estimated $1.6 billion in economic activity and supported roughly 8,150 full-time-equivalent jobs. In Santa Cruz County, nonprofit arts and culture alone generated approximately $68 million and supported 1,437 jobs in 2022.
And those figures don’t tell the whole story.
They don’t fully capture the designer helping a local company compete globally. The filmmaker hiring a crew. The musician filling a downtown venue. The architect shaping a community. The photographer supporting a tourism business. The digital creator turning a Central Coast story into a global audience.
These are businesses. These are jobs. This is economic development.
California has already figured this out. The state estimates roughly 180,000 creative-economy jobs statewide, with creative workers earning an average salary of about $170,000.
So why are we still acting as though the creative economy belongs in the cultural section of the newspaper rather than the business section?
Perhaps because we have made the mistake of believing economic development is only about what we can build.
Increasingly, it is about what we can imagine.
And imagination is one resource the Central Coast has in abundance.
Think about what the region already possesses: UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Monterey Bay, Hartnell College, Cabrillo College, agriculture, tourism, technology, extraordinary landscapes, historic communities and an astonishing concentration of people who make things, design things, tell stories and create experiences.
That combination isn’t an accident.
It is a competitive advantage.
But competitive advantages don’t remain advantages simply because we possess them. They have to be cultivated.
If we want young people to build careers here rather than leave for Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York or Austin, we have to stop telling them—implicitly or explicitly—that a “real” career means working somewhere else.
We need creative businesses that can grow here.
We need spaces where they can afford to work.
We need capital that recognizes creative entrepreneurs as entrepreneurs.
We need schools and colleges connecting students to creative careers.
And we need economic-development organizations and policymakers to start measuring creative jobs with the same seriousness they apply to manufacturing, agriculture and technology.
Because here is the uncomfortable truth:
The Central Coast may not be able to outbid Silicon Valley for every technology company. We may not be able to compete with every region for massive industrial projects. But we can build an economy around something few places can copy: our combination of creativity, place and talent.
The creative economy isn’t a luxury we can afford when times are good.
It may be one of the reasons our economy can become stronger when times are difficult.
So let’s stop asking whether the arts and creative industries deserve a seat at the economic-development table.
They’ve already earned one.
The real question is why we haven’t been listening.
Monterey Bay Economic Partnership and regional leaders will explore the role creativity can play in the economic future of Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties at the Creative Economy Summit on Oct. 22 in Watsonville.