VTA Community Report Boasts $28.6 Million Impact, Bid Farewell Of President

Victoria Theatre Association (VTA) presented its 2017-2018 Community Report at today's Annual Meeting, held in the Mathile Theatre at the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. The meeting celebrated a fiscal year-end report revealing an estimated $28.6 million economic impact on the Miami Valley region, the construction of the soon-to-open PNC Arts Annex, and acknowledged many of VTA's 2017-2018 Education & Engagement programs that touched more than 100,000 lives in our community. VTA's Annual Meeting also included an Ohio Business Profile commendation from Ohio Secretary of State John Husted's office as well a farewell to retiring President & CEO Ken Neufeld and welcomed his successor, Ty Sutton.

"VTA's 2017-2018 Season had impressive financial results," said Martha Shaker, VTA Board of Trustees Chair. "I attribute these results to the leadership and hard work of the VTA Board of Trustees, staff and volunteers. President & CEO Ken Neufeld, along with his talented and dedicated staff and our outstanding corps of more than 600 volunteers, led Victoria Theatre Association on a path that created more than $28.6 million in economic impact for our region. This impact ultimately adds to the value of living in the Miami Valley."

"The close of the 2017-2018 Season also brings the retirement of VTA's fearless leader, Ken Neufeld," continued Shaker. "Ken's vision and dedication led to nine years of growth and expansion for VTA. While at VTA, Ken's accomplishments include: launching and growing the National Geographic Live Series; raising more than $15 million to grow the endowment to ensure state-of-the-art facilities for generations of Daytonians; and, championing the soon-to-open PNC Arts Annex. We sincerely thank Ken for his leadership, vision and commitment to excellence and wish him and his wife, Lesley, all the best in the future."

Community Report Findings:

The operations of Victoria Theatre Association had a preliminary and unaudited profit from operations of $237,000 on total revenues of $16.4 million for fiscal year ending June 30, 2018.

Based on a formula developed by the Americans for the Arts, the overall revenue of $16.4 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year created an overall estimated $28.6 million economic impact for the Dayton Metro area.

The impressive sum represents the overall total dollars spent by VTA and its audiences, counting event-related spending by arts audiences including, but not limited to, ticket sales, restaurants, parking, merchandise sales and other expenses that revolve around attending and producing an arts event.

"The 2017-2018 Season was another strong one for VTA," said Ken Neufeld, VTA President & CEO. "It was financially successful from both an operating and a capital campaign perspective. Not only did we post a preliminary profit in our overall budget, but we increased contributions to The Next Stage Campaign. On the programming side, many of our Education & Engagement programs grew in attendance, especially our sensory-friendly performances in the Morris Furniture Company Family Series. We added a second public presentation to each National Geographic Live Series event as well as including Nat Geo Live in our Discovery Series. We launched a new speaker series partnership with the University of Dayton Center for Leadership and the Dayton Development Coalition. Our other series (Premier Health Broadway Series, Projected Unlimited Star Attraction Series, and Universal 1 VIC150 Music Series) were well received and attended by our community. This all had a favorable result on VTA's bottom line, resulting in an excellent year."

"The PNC Arts Annex is scheduled to open in mid-October," continued Neufeld. "The PNC Arts Annex will welcome a variety of programming and meeting spaces to satisfy our growing and diversifying audiences. Our goal is to open the space to innovative programming that is accessible and affordable to everyone. We invite arts, cultural, community organizations and businesses to book the spaces to expand the creative capital of our region. Thank you to PNC Bank who provided signature funding for this project, as well as the State of Ohio, Montgomery County, and the many, individual, corporate and foundation donors for making the PNC Arts Annex a reality."

Highlights from the 2017-2018 Season included:

• VTA served 430,331 people in its facilities, including the Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, Metropolitan Arts Center/Loft Theatre and Citilites at the Schuster Center.
• Ticket Center Stage, a centralized ticketing service managed by VTA, sold more than 325,000 tickets, totaling $12.4 million in sales for venues VTA manages. This number includes ticket sales of VTA presentations as well as performances by seven local arts organizations and others who rent the venues.
• VTA's Education & Engagement's programs continued to serve more than 100,000 patrons (young and old) with programs including:

• • One Small Voice: Women Who Rock- a community engagement project in connection with the Broadway tour of BEAUTFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL, where 21 aspiring female singer-songwriters, ages 15-50, participated in a variety of workshops, master classes and work sessions to support the creation of original music.
  • Sensory-Friendly Performances- in partnership with Dayton Children's, more than 350 children and their families attended the Morris Furniture Company Family Series performances, which were specifically designed for children with sensory processing diagnoses and other special needs.
  • Bagels & Broadway- a mid-morning treat for guests with a ringside seat at the load-in for several Broadway shows which included a Q&A with touring company or production mangers.
  • Teachers' Lounge - held on opening nights of Premier Health Broadway Series presentations, inviting local educators to enjoy a night at the theatre including a private reception before the show.
  • Art F.O.R.C.E. -an "Arts in Healing" initiative serving military families at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Art F.O.R.C.E. partnered with the mental health unit at Wright-Patterson Medical Center in a pilot program helping patients in the Intensive Outpatient Unit learn coping mechanisms to assist with individualized treatment.

• The Dayton Power & Light Company Foundation Cheap Seats program continued with more than 23,000 enthusiastic members receiving monthly email updates about the latest $10 ticket offerings on this program. More than 12,700 tickets were sold through this initiative.
• VTA's army of nearly 600 volunteers provided the necessary support to operations by serving primarily as ushers at all performances, but also in additional capacities, donating more than 56,000 hours of service, representing approximately $630,000 in donated labor.
• Now in its 11th year, the Fueling Education program offered free Regional Transit Authority (RTA) passes to nearly 500 students and teachers. The Convenience Stores of Speedway provided additional transportation funds for schools outside of Montgomery County.
• Citilites at the Schuster Center Restaurant & Bar/Catering & Events served more than 23,300 guests for lunch during the work week and for dinner before all Schuster Center performances in a casual, yet elegant dining experience. With a wide array of catering and banquet options, Citilites at the Schuster's Event Services team served over 430 events, hosting more than 42,000 guests during the 2017-2018 Season.

Additional information about these and other season highlights can be found in the Community Report, available for download at www.victoriatheatre.com/news or by calling 937-228-7591.

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