An emerging sector, it's been proven that knowledge-based businesses - like internet/web design, digital media, product design, architecture, business consulting and software development (to name only a few) – pay smart wages and attract smart people. Generating more than $3.4 million in annual wages, these innovative companies represent Savannah's future. And, The Creative Coast Alliance (TCCa) is Savannah's answer to this shifting business horizon.

And, unlike many communities, Savannah's local government “gets it.” They are not only supporting efforts in traditional business locations and expansions – like manufacturing and distribution – but they are actively engaged in the attraction and growth of knowledge based businesses, innovative, creative and technical companies.

Using disaggregated, company-specific wage and employment data from the GA Department of Labor, and cross-referencing the U.S. Occupational Employment Matrix from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, TCCa developed a methodology to specifically isolate and measure the activity of what they called “knowledge-based businesses.” This methodology was unlike other typical “technology” sector analysis in that it included the “creative” industries as well: Graphic and Visual Design, Art and Photography, to name a few. To put it simply, TCCa isolated those (technical and creative) industries by determining those that had the highest percentage of knowledge-based occupations. The industries that fell through the filter in the top 10% were designated as knowledge-based industries.