SmARTBiz: Increasing Awareness Among Businesses of the Importance of Arts and Culture

Monday, October 15, 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Key Biscayne A

Organized by Rena Blades, president & CEO, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Inc.; Jan Rodusky, director of grants, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Inc.

Presented by Susie Dwinell, vice president, client and community relations director, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; Craig Grant, president, PNC Bank Florida Market, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; Steven Maklansky, director, Boca Raton Museum of Art.

This session will be a case study of the collaboration between the Palm Beach County Cultural Council and PNC Bank. The two corporations began the SmARTBiz program in 2010 to increase awareness among the business community of the economic impact of the cultural industry and to improve the operational capacity of cultural organizations. The project includes three strategies for achieving this goal:

Direct grants to improve cultural organizations’ operations;
Professional development training in operations, financial management, and development;
Marketing and promotions to the community communicating economic data and program results.

New models are required for the future of arts funding, and those attending this session will learn ways that corporate funders can partner with the cultural industry. Arts agency staff will find this particularly useful.

SmARTBiz