COCAbiz

The Facts…

• St. Louis is a great place to live and raise kids, surrounded by inspiring arts institutions (including COCA!) and innovative cultural initiatives. Yet according to Fast Company Magazine in September 2008, St. Louis ranks as one of the five “slowest” cities in the United States.
• Our kids are growing up here, but many are leaving. The St. Louis RCGA declares that one of their key strategic initiatives is to build regional talent, retain individuals with needed experience, retool individuals for emerging demands, recruit individuals from other markets, and ensure future competitive advantage.

The Future…

• At COCA, we see an opportunity to help St. Louis get moving again—and catch a new creative buzz. As one of the nation’s most forward-thinking arts education institutions, we envision a promising new collaboration between business and the arts.
• This collaboration is a new program we’re calling COCAbiz— an arts and business partnership designed to create a stronger and more innovative business community in St. Louis.

Innovation is Essential

• Employers rate creativity/innovation among the top five skills that will increase in importance over the next five years.
• Stimulating innovation/creativity and enabling entrepreneurship is among the top 10 challenges of U.S. CEOs.
• 61% of employers feel they have a responsibility for instilling creativity in the U.S. workforce, but their current creativity-building offerings don’t live up to this desire.

The arts are ready for business

• Our COCAbiz mission is to unlock, develop and nurture the creativity within each of us.
• COCAbiz can spark new life in the business world by providing companies and individuals with new resources and connections that nurture innovation.
• Building on a nationally-acclaimed model of using the arts to better engage students in learning, COCA believes we can apply arts-based learning to business training curricula—and achieve breakthrough results.

It makes good business sense

• In his essay Keys to American Economic Competitiveness in the 21st Century, Dr. Hamsa Thota, Ph.D. says art-making can transform routine productive processes into creative processes. He has seen quantitatively oriented, highly skeptical colleagues come away from these art-making sessions as true believers who recognize the relevance of arts education to their work as engineers and innovators.
• COCA tested the appetite of more than 35 local and regional companies towards the idea of arts-based training for their workforce. The majority, representing a wide variety of companies, expressed a common interest in this idea.
• And, support is already there. COCA has received start-up support for COCAbiz from The Boeing Company and the Doris Duke Foundation’s “Innovation Lab.” why COCA?

COCA is innovation

• Rich in history. Now 23 years old, with a $4.6 million annual budget, COCA serves 50,000 diverse participants, ranking as the 5th largest community arts center in the country. COCA is supported by prestigious foundations such as Ford and Lila Wallace, is recognized by Harvard’s “Qualities of Quality” study, and has provided more than $600,000 a year in free arts education opportunities for low-income populations for the past 18 years.
• The yearning for arts is alive and well. Despite the economy, demand for COCA arts education programs has never been higher. Funds generated by COCAbiz will help support the multiple arts education programs COCA provides in the community.
• Grounded by our principles, yet always growing. With a mission of enriching lives and building community through the arts, it’s only natural for us to extend our success to the business community. We believe getting the creative juices flowing in our business community will lead to innovation and a competitive advanage for St. Louis companies.

COCAbiz works three ways:

• 1. The course catalog.
  Individuals and/or companies can choose from a variety of onsite workshops (conducted at COCA and led by COCA artist instructors, with organizational development specialists). This method is ideal for innovation because it brings a diverse mix of people together to solve a problem.
  
  Workshop example: Playing the Relational Field—Artistic Strategies for People Managers
• 2. Tailored workshops.
  We understand that each company has unique needs and issues related to performance management, work culture and team dynamics. COCAbiz will tailor workshops focused squarely on a company’s specific needs and goals. If you select a tailored workshop, COCA artist instructors and organizational development specialists will come to your company to lead the workshop.
  Workshop example: Re-imagining How Teams Innovate—Creative Solutions for Teams
• 3. Ongoing networking opportunities.
  Throughout the year, COCAbiz will offer opportunities to network and share in innovative seminars and activities, at COCA or online. Networking examples: Keynote addresses by national and international thought leaders with private access and in-depth breakout opportunities, networking groups and a dedicated COCAbiz Web site.

COCA seeks partnership in COCAbiz with experienced innovators and collaborating institutions and companies.

Angel Funders

Collaborators