Let's face it, when it comes to the arts and culture your community probably isn't a London, Paris, Rome or New York or even a Chicago or Austin, Texas. But you can-and should-try to build a solid and sensible cultural foundation to your constituency in your own self-interest. Why? Because the arts are not only pleasurable and satisfying in themselves, but they also tend to attract money-spending global visitors, investors and possibly most important of all scientists, technicians and workers of skill and talent who tend to congregate in places rich in culture and spirit.

In his recent best seller, "The Rise of the Creative Class," Dr. Richard Florida noted that there is an amazingly direct correlation between a successful, advanced, technology-focused economy and a community that encourages the whole spectrum of the arts.

In Milwaukee, we have found this to be the case-quality culture here not only added an interesting complexity to our daily lives, but also paid off mightily in our attractiveness to visitors, investors and business recruits.

For instance:

• Our Thursday evening "Jazz in the Park" now attracts between 3,500 and 6,000 people a night.

• Our summer ethnic festivals-German, Polish, Irish, French, Asian, Italian, Mexican, Native American, African-American-have run out of weekends from May into September.

• Our Milwaukee Symphony became the first U.S musical institution to be invited to visit Cuba since the 1950s.

• And, our $100-million expansion of the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by the celebrated Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was named the "Number One Design for 2001" by Time magazine and is being described by the international press as one of the recent "Eight Wonders of the World."

When Dr. Florida visited Milwaukee as part of his quest for the country's most creative cities, he made this much-quoted comment: "I called my girlfriend last night, and I told her that Milwaukee is really cool!"

Putting it together for your city

As a resident international business leader within your community, how can you help build a cultural base that is dividend producing? Here are three things we have learned in Milwaukee:

Don't fake it. I have noted that many private, public and civic powers-that-be often regard the arts and culture a little like castor oil-in other words, good for you but pretty terrible tasting. The thought goes something like this: We need a major opera house or ballet company if we want to appear to be a major world city. My feeling is that this is both elitist and also wrong. You probably won't attract either the artistic talent or the customers with that attitude and you may very well end up with a huge, gleaming architectural "white elephant" as so many cities have learned.

Make it natural. We initiated Summerfest a couple of decades ago as an analogy to Germany's famous Octoberfest. The mayor at that time looked to the music festival as a means to "re-energize the downtown and provide a sense of community pride." The 11-day music blowout has developed into a festival that now draws over a million people every year, and in 2001 was named "Music Festival of the Year" by Pollstar, the weekly trade publication serving music business professionals worldwide. In short, it stems naturally rather than synthetically from our own community. And that quality makes for a successful cultural appeal or event. For example, country music in Nashville, jazz in New Orleans, or Charleston, South Carolina's Spoleto Festival. The key point is to build on what you already have.

Back it with a public/private partnership. This is one case where the notion of partnership is more than a clich?You need the governmental authorities to provide the infrastructure and the official blessing. But, just as important, you need major private contributors to market culture to the broad community. And here, your most effective pitch is probably enlightened self-interest rather than altruism. To help you sell the concept at the local level, here is recent testimony by Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean of the Yale School of Management as reported in Business Week: "To cite just one example, McKenzie & Company estimates that the new Guggenheim Museum proposal for lower Manhattan should attract 3.5 million visitors annually, earn $570 million in income for the city, generate from 4,300 to 5,500 permanent new jobs, and produce $26 million per year in tax revenue." As to the international impact, this is what Dean Garten also has to say: "A flourishing cultural environment has also become an advantage for urban centers competing globally. Lifestyle enhancements are a key way to attract and retain skilled people, especially to the workforce and tax base."

A generation ago Milwaukee in company with many other Midwestern locations was widely regarded as a little provincial, a little dull, a little old-fashioned-a place where everything tended to arrive about five years late. However, a continuing and accelerating cultural boom helped change all that, helped build our collective sense of self-confidence at home, and brought in many dollars in income and revenue from visitors, investors and new hires. Wouldn't all that be a good thing for your community?

Sidebar: University of Wisconsin Places Emphasis on Biotech
By Patrick Burnson

The new biochemistry major now offered at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee gives students comprehensive preparation for a career in biochemistry research in either industry or academia. Students have the option to tailor their degree toward a biochemical, biomedical, cell biological, or molecular biological emphasis, based on their career goals, through electives in the Biology Department and their choice of research advisor in the Chemistry Department.

Biochemistry has a very wide economic influence, directly impacting agriculture, the environment, medicine and more recently, homeland security.

At their annual meeting, the UW System Board of Regents approved a Biochemistry Major within the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chemistry Department. At the same time, a Biochemistry Major was approved for UW-LaCrosse, bringing the total number of comprehensive biochemistry majors within the UW System to four, including UW-Madison and UW-Eau Claire.

"Currently, Wisconsin has something like 200 biotech companies centered around Madison and Milwaukee. There is an ongoing need for universities to prepare graduates proficient in biological chemistry to supply the work force for this industry," says Graham Moran, assistant professor of chemistry. "Health care and medicine are predicted to be the largest growth areas in the next ten years. With the baby boomers reaching retirement age, it has been predicted that by the year 2010, seventy-five million additional retirements will have taken place. These demographics will make medicine among the most critical issues in the second decade of the new century."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 35 percent increase nationally in biochemical scientist positions in the next ten years. This rate of growth exceeds the average rate of growth for all other professions. It is projected that total job openings nationwide between 2000-2010 will be 85,000.

The degree has been designed to prepare students who are ready to enter the biochemical industry upon earning their baccalaureate degree. For this reason, the math requirements of the major are designed to help students focus on the application of math to real world problems. The major's math courses emphasize models and applications, rather than the traditional calculus series.

"The research requirement is another strength of the program," says Moran. "Students need an understanding of the nature and difficulty of basic research to appreciate fully the expectations of their future employers. This requirement is a distinct advantage to Biochemistry major graduates, as it will give them access to equipment, facilities, and techniques generally not employed in basic laboratory classes."