Statement from Executive Director of Carson Center
Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center
Submitted by Brian J. Laczko, Executive Director of the Carson Center
It is my extreme pleasure to be writing my second address to the four rivers region in this our second, report. I have been here a little over two and one-half years and have grown attached to the region, the wonderful people in it, and this Center. The Carson Center is indeed an extraordinary facility and is made only more exceptional by virtue of the size of the region that made it possible. We have artists come here who have performed around this country, as well as around the world, and they are unanimous in their praise of this performing arts center.
As you will read in the audit enclosed with this report, we had a very successful season over the last fiscal year. This staff worked exceptionally hard to overcome financial shortfalls from earlier seasons while still attempting to provide quality customer service. Through these efforts, I am delighted to report that we had a Gain from Operations and Support of $9,998. While that does seem a relatively insignificant return on an almost $3,000,000 budget, it is the first time in the history of this center that we have been able to report any sort of surplus from operations.
The fact that we more than broke even is good news. For me, the even better news is in knowing the economic impact the Carson Center is having upon this region. As mentioned in our Chairman’s statement, last year alone we had 115,775 visitors through our doors. That includes patrons coming to performances as well as those coming for performances presented by others, meetings, receptions, graduations, proms, church, or other events. Of that total attendance number, 59,101 paid admissions to see performances that the Carson Center presented. It is interesting to note that 19% of these paid admissions came from more than 50 miles away to attend these performances. These patrons came from 30 states. Those statistics are so overwhelming, I thought them worth mentioning a second time.
A research project was conducted by Americans for the Arts, a not-for-profit organization of arts-related institutions. They conducted surveys in 156 communities to study “The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences.” In addition to having published their results, they devised an informed calculator for nonprofits to glean quickly the overall economic impact of institutions in their individual communities. Using a 50 mile radius as our total local population base, we find that the Carson Center has Total Industry Impact of $5,717,854. The Carson Center has an impact of full-time equivalent jobs of 167.6 jobs. It calculates total local government revenue of $244,557 and state government revenue $297,110.
The performances we place on our stage improve the quality of life in this region. We strive to entertain, educate, and enrich the lives of those attending our performances. However, as you see from the impact reflected in the above paragraph, this Center does so much more. Whenever recruiters are welcoming potential leaders to this area, they are certain to bring these individuals to the Carson Center for a tour. The same can be said when community leaders are looking to attract new businesses to this area. The quality of life is improved each day but, more importantly, the quality of life in this region is being enhanced for generations to come.
I trust you take equal pride in the value of the Carson Center to this region. Again, as mentioned in our Chairman’s statement, $52,245 was contributed from donors stating their intention that those funds go toward the operations of the Center (if needed). We would not have shown the $9,998 surplus for our most recent fiscal year without these contributions. We need to expand our endowment to the degree stipulated in the original pro forma reports regarding the anticipated potential operations of this facility. However, until we are able to grow the endowment to that extent, we will continue to need contributions to the operating fund. I hope that, after reading this Annual Report, you will consider making a contribution to our operating fund or a direct, or deferred, gift to our endowment fund.
Regards,
Brian Laczko, Executive Director of the Carson Center
Go back to Annual Report Main Page