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Leffingwell to speak in Seoul

Monday, July 6, 2015 by Jo Clifton

Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell will be taking off to Seoul, South Korea, next week, where he has been invited to give the keynote address at a conference on the creative economy. While he was on City Council, Leffingwell was a big booster of Austin’s creative economy, including Austin City Limits; the SXSW Music, Interactive and Film festivals; and Formula One. Last May, Council approved creation of a Creative Content Incentive Program within the city’s Economic Development Department. The aim of the program is to increase Austin’s competitive advantage in attracting TV, film and digital media projects to town to create more job opportunities for the local creative workforce. According to information released at the time, such projects are eligible for an incentive of up to .75 percent of wages paid to local workers. Leffingwell was a strong supporter of the incentive program, as well as a number of other job creation initiatives. In a 2012 report, TXP Inc. reported that the creative sector contributes just over $4.3 billion annually to Austin’s economy. Leffingwell said Seoul’s Mayor Park Won-soon invited him to give the speech.

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