The Chamber, the Industrial Authority, and various other local leaders
say they want knowledge-based jobs, or creative jobs.
We won’t get those just by teaching students to show up on time and
do what they’re told: that’s how you train factory workers,
not knowledge-based employees.
For creative jobs we also need Technology, Talent, and Tolerance.
How do you measure Tolerance?
One key component is the concentration of gays and lesbians.
So today’s

South Georgia Pride Festival
is a good sign for creative jobs in south Georgia!

Richard Florida wrote 16 July 2012 for The Atlantic,

The Geography of Tolerance,

The map above shows how metros across the U.S. score on the
Tolerance Index, as updated for The Rise of the Creative Class,
Revisited. The chart below shows the top 20 metros. Developed by my
Martin Prosperity Institute colleague Kevin Stolarick, it ranks U.S.
metros according to three key variables—the share of
immigrants or foreign-born residents, the Gay Index (the
concentration of gays and lesbians), and the Integration Index,
which tracks the level of segregation between ethnic and racial
groups.

Do you recognize that shape in the middle of south Georgia?
That’s the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area,
consisting of Lowndes, Echols, Lanier, and Brooks Counties.
Looks like about 0.4 on the Tolerance Index.
So sure, we’re no Austin, Texas, but we’re in the same range as oh,
Charlotte, NC.

If you want to help promote creative jobs in south Georgia,
there’s a festival going on today:

South Georgia Pride Festival

noon until 6PM

John W Saunders Park

1151 River Street

Valdosta, Georgia

food and music all day

Who knows,

the Mayor of Valdosta might even be there; what do you think?
He certainly gave the festival

plenty of earned media.

-jsq