My guest today is Karen Finn, the executive director of the Springfield Culture Partnership. If you've not heard of the partnership, here's a little history, according to the organization's website: In 2018, the Springfield Central Cultural District, Springfield Cultural Council, City of Springfield and the Mass Cultural Council partnered to form the Springfield Cultural Compact. The three partners work exclusively on cultural activities to boost the local economy through creative expression separately, signed a "cultural compact" on Tuesday, January 16, 2018, at Springfield City Hall, to increase collaboration and partnership, together.

"The compact includes regular meetings and communication as well as Springfield-specific goals like integrating public art into the metro center, also known as downtown. Springfield was one of six pilot cities including Harwich, Lynn, New Bedford, Pittsfield, and Worcester for this initiative across the state of Massachusetts, and the first in the state to hold a signing ceremony." The mission is to "connect artists, institutions and audiences to create and celebrate creativity in Springfield."

The arts is an economic driver for the city as you will learn in the interview.

Consider the following: in 2022 (the last year for stats) Springfield's nonprofit arts industry alone generates $82.4 million in economic activity annually – spending by organizations and their audiences – which supports 1,483 jobs and generates $15.3 million in local, state, and federal government revenue.

Give a listen.

And I'll explain what my wife and I are doing to try to prevent some of the impacts on current federal government policies as well as tariffs.