Catalyzing Space Reinventing Place: The Role of Business In Shaping Creative Industries Dr. Teresa M.

. Tipton Senior Lecturer Humanities and Social Sciences Anglo-American University Prague, Czech Republic Email: teresa.tipton@aauni.edu Http://teresamarietipton.com How do communities develop their creative assets in the face of diminishing financial resources in the European sector? In the face of the fields substantial GDP statistics across the EU27, the EC has been slow to define investments to the cultural arts in favor of knowledge-economy sectors. The arts and cultural sector which comprise the creative, educational, academic, and innovative elements of community cultural heritage continues to receive a disproportionately less amount of public and private funding in relationship to its contributions, defining an economic downturn that began before the global financial crisis in 2008. Despite international and regional research studies, economic reports, and position papers correlating cultural enterprises and their contributions to the economic development of communities, regional tourism, and the creative capacitation of individuals within cultural and educational institutions, the future of community arts and the cultural operators within creative enterprises remains uncertain. This paper asks what can be the formative role of business in the enactment and development of creative industries? In seeking to answer this question, a vision for business leadership in generating cultural resources is proposed. As a formidable negotiator in the development of cultural tourism, business investment in creative tourism initiatives can strengthen and support catalyzing actions on behalf of community well-being and cultural enrichment, bringing new commitments to communitarian values and the cultural aspects of civic education to life. Balancing rhetorical analysis with model projects, this paper challenges business leaders to make new roles for themselves with investments to communities from which their wealth has originated.