September 13, 2004
Creative spark | David Olson founds an organization dedicated to spurring the creative economy in western Maine
By Brian O'keefe
As David Olson sees it, the dilemma in western Maine is easy to describe: Manufacturing and agriculture no longer buttress the region's economy, and the emerging service and retail sectors have not been robust enough to make up the difference. What the region needs, Olson believes, is an energized creative economy ˆ businesses and nonprofit organizations that depend on innovation and creative endeavors for their success.
This month, the Wilson Stream Creative Enterprise Center, which Olson helped found in Wilton late last year, takes the first step in an ambitious agenda by offering the nationally recognized FastTrac Planning business training program. Though Franklin County has seen other FastTrac courses aimed at manufacturing and retail businesses, this is the first one to cater to creative entrepreneurs. Class discussion will focus on issues unique to creative businesses. Successful artists and craftspeople will be featured as guest speakers, and supplemental reading will be integrated with the standard curriculum.
A graduate of the FastTrac program himself, Olson credits that training with giving him the skills to pull his own company through lackluster economic times during the past few years. "I came out of an academic background," he says, referring to his experience as library director at the University of Maine at Farmington. "I wasn't a business person. I learned how to be a businessperson through FastTrac."
Olson founded MaineWest Business Technology Solutions with a partner in 1997. The Farmington company specializes in network sales and maintenance, and also offers website design. Olson now also serves as executive director of WSCEC, with a mission of nurturing and training creative entrepreneurs, from traditional craftspeople to architects to computer programmers. "There is a long-standing tradition in western Maine of arts, crafts and creative enterprise, and this project is meant to leverage that human capital for economic development," he says.
The center plans to provide services to incubate fledgling businesses until they're able to stand on their own. Entrepreneurs will be offered studio and gallery space, along with resources like bookkeeping and photocopiers. WSCEC has yet to secure a home for itself, but Olson hopes to find a suitable space in Wilton within six to eight months.
The idea of promoting a creative economy is not new, but only recently has it been promoted in rural states like Maine, most prominently by Gov. John Baldacci, who sponsored a conference on the subject last spring. For his part, Olson maintains that Franklin County already has the talent necessary to make a creative economy work. But many artistic people don't have innate business sense or the wherewithal to start their own companies, he explains, which the center is designed to address. "They're good artists, but they don't think of themselves as businesspeople, and so artists who go into business often don't do well for that reason," he says.
Olson also sees potential for promoting cultural tourism by establishing Wilton as a destination via the WSCEC. He points to the town of Freeport as an example of how vibrant businesses can turn a town into a tourist attraction. While Freeport did it with retail, Olson feels a similar goal could be achieved with the creative sector.
Aside from those broader benefits, Olson, a photographer, sculptor and graphic designer himself, also sees the center as fulfilling the personal needs of local artists. "There's a need for connection with other creative people in this area. A lot of them tend to work on their own," he says, and the center will bring them together. "Personally, I got involved in this because I just wanted to see that happen."
This month, the Wilson Stream Creative Enterprise Center, which Olson helped found in Wilton late last year, takes the first step in an ambitious agenda by offering the nationally recognized FastTrac Planning business training program. Though Franklin County has seen other FastTrac courses aimed at manufacturing and retail businesses, this is the first one to cater to creative entrepreneurs. Class discussion will focus on issues unique to creative businesses. Successful artists and craftspeople will be featured as guest speakers, and supplemental reading will be integrated with the standard curriculum.
A graduate of the FastTrac program himself, Olson credits that training with giving him the skills to pull his own company through lackluster economic times during the past few years. "I came out of an academic background," he says, referring to his experience as library director at the University of Maine at Farmington. "I wasn't a business person. I learned how to be a businessperson through FastTrac."
Olson founded MaineWest Business Technology Solutions with a partner in 1997. The Farmington company specializes in network sales and maintenance, and also offers website design. Olson now also serves as executive director of WSCEC, with a mission of nurturing and training creative entrepreneurs, from traditional craftspeople to architects to computer programmers. "There is a long-standing tradition in western Maine of arts, crafts and creative enterprise, and this project is meant to leverage that human capital for economic development," he says.
The center plans to provide services to incubate fledgling businesses until they're able to stand on their own. Entrepreneurs will be offered studio and gallery space, along with resources like bookkeeping and photocopiers. WSCEC has yet to secure a home for itself, but Olson hopes to find a suitable space in Wilton within six to eight months.
The idea of promoting a creative economy is not new, but only recently has it been promoted in rural states like Maine, most prominently by Gov. John Baldacci, who sponsored a conference on the subject last spring. For his part, Olson maintains that Franklin County already has the talent necessary to make a creative economy work. But many artistic people don't have innate business sense or the wherewithal to start their own companies, he explains, which the center is designed to address. "They're good artists, but they don't think of themselves as businesspeople, and so artists who go into business often don't do well for that reason," he says.
Olson also sees potential for promoting cultural tourism by establishing Wilton as a destination via the WSCEC. He points to the town of Freeport as an example of how vibrant businesses can turn a town into a tourist attraction. While Freeport did it with retail, Olson feels a similar goal could be achieved with the creative sector.
Aside from those broader benefits, Olson, a photographer, sculptor and graphic designer himself, also sees the center as fulfilling the personal needs of local artists. "There's a need for connection with other creative people in this area. A lot of them tend to work on their own," he says, and the center will bring them together. "Personally, I got involved in this because I just wanted to see that happen."
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