“Nurturing human talent and nurturing human beings is the key to economic advance,” Florida said Wednesday on the business show “Marketplace.” “We can build purpose and meaning into work.”
Florida is one of the leading voices on what changes all kinds of organizations need to make to succeed economically in today’s world. He will be giving a keynote address on Oct. 19 at the international conference Tijuana Innovadora.
Florida, a keen observer of the San Diego-Tijuana region, will talk on “The Creative Economy: Baja California’s New Calling.”
Florida, a business professor at the University of Toronto, is renowned for his concept of the “creative class,” professionals for whom creativity is basic in their job and the effect that this group has on economic development.
He is CEO of Creative Class Group, a consulting firm that works with organizations and communities to achieve greater prosperity.
Florida’s argues that metropolitan regions with a high concentration of architects, designers, professors, scientists, writers, artists and musicians show a higher level of economic development.
In the “Marketplace” interview, he said public policies that encourage the creation of service jobs, where workers struggle to survive, are bad long-term for the economy.
Enrique Jiménez Ejival, an organizer at Tijuana Innavadora, said Florida detected that companies were drawn to places that encouraged innovation and creativity. These cities had open, dynamic societies that promoted competitiveness and growth, which contributed to healthy economies.
Florida, 54, is author of several influential books, among them: “Who’s Your City?”, “The Flight of the Creative Class,” and “The Rise of the Creative Class and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life.”
