March 20, 2018 - The City of Thunder Bay's Cultural Development & Events section celebrated the successful conclusion of the artsVest program, alongside Business for the Arts, at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium yesterday.

"The collaboration allowed us to support local organizations to increase their capacity to secure sponsorships through a mixture of mentorship, training and an investment matching program," said Ash Young, Cultural Development & Events Supervisor for the City of Thunder Bay.

In Thunder Bay:
"¢    Five arts organizations participated in 102 hours of capacity building and mentorship training from mentors from across Canada through group, one-on-one and peer-to-peer mentoring sessions
"¢    Four arts organizations created 13 partnerships with local businesses
"¢    Eight of 13 of these were first time partnerships
"¢    Arts organizations have indicated that 10 of 13 of these will continue long-term
"¢    These five arts organizations exceeded their goal of $30,000 in sponsorship funds by raising $40,580 in sponsorship funds from the business community!
"¢    They received artsVest matching funds of $21,830. The sponsorship and matching funds together created an investment impact of $62,410 on the Thunder Bay economy.

artsVest is Business for the Arts' national flagship program. It works directly with small to mid-sized arts organizations, equipping them with in-depth training, tools and mentorship relationships. These components are thoughtfully created to build sustainable partnerships between arts organizations and businesses to spark sponsorship opportunities. As an added incentive, artsVest participants can apply for matching grants - for every one dollar raised in sponsorship, Business for the Arts will match it with another dollar - doubling their sponsorship potential. 

For more information, visit: www.artsvest.com

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Contact:   Ash Young, Cultural Development & Events Supervisor, Recreation & Culture Division, 625-2487 or ayoung@thunderbay.ca