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Memo- Staffing Plan for the Hopkins Center for the Arts & the Hopkins PavilionMemo „594 Hopkins Center for the Arts To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council From: Jay Strachota, Facilities Manager Date: 08/05/98 Re: Proposed Staffing Plan for the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Hopkins Pavilion The purpose of this memo is to outline a change in staffing at the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Hopkins Pavilion. After 1 year of operations under the "Public Works Proposal" of staffing the Arts Center and Pavilion it has become apparent to the Operations Board, Public Works Department, Arts Center and Pavilion Staff that the plan needs to be revised, to effectively operate the two facilities. History On April 11, 1997, the City Council approved a staffing plan, proposed by the Public Works Division, for staffing of the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The plan included the hiring of a Facilities Manager who would be responsible for both the Arts Center and Pavilion; an Arts Coordinator, Custodian and Seasonal Part-time Employees for the Arts Center. The plan went into affect immediately with the hiring of the Facilities Manager in June and the balance of the staff prior to opening the facility. By December of 1997, it became apparent that more staff time was needed at the Arts Center to effectively deal with the demand of events, visitors, Tenant and Operations Board activity and facility issues. In response to these demands, a 6 -month interim management plan was implemented on January 1, 1998. This plan allocated 80% of the Facilities Manager's time to the Arts Center and the Pavilion Assistant Manager became the Interim Pavilion Manager. The thought behind the interim approach was after 6 months of operations it could be determined whether the high activity level was a peak of activity that would settle out, or a normal level of activity for this type of facility. After 9 months of operations, it has become clear that the high level of activity at the Arts Center is here to stay. People are still discovering the facility and become excited about its uses. Tenants are successful and with success comes more activity. Community groups are finding ways to utilize the Arts Center and are delighted to be able to do so. • Page 1 Overview of Proposed Staffing The proposed staffing plan would do the following on the Pavilion side: Split the Facilities Manager time 80/20 percent between the Arts Center and Pavilion respectively. The Interim Pavilion Manager, Don Olson, would apply for the Pavilion Manager's position. A new Assistant Pavilion Manager would be hired into the existing position. The Facilities Manager's 20% time at the Pavilion will be for a 16 -month transition period ending December 31, 1999, then the Facility Manager will become 100% responsible for the Arts Center. The Pavilion Manager will then report to the Parks Superintendent, as has been the process in the past. On The Arts Center Side: • Page 2 During the 16 month transition period the Facilities Manager will supervise and train the Pavilion Manager, and provide some administrative functions that are needed at this point in the Pavilion's history, such as, an equipment replacement plan, increased advertising revenue, an updated energy savings plan, etc. The Arts Center would receive 80% of the Facilities Manager's time for the next 16 months, after 16 months the Facilities Manager becomes responsible for the Arts Center only. The Arts Center would hire a 14 -hour a week (non - benefited) part -time employee to assist with public contact, scheduling and contract administration. The Arts Center would utilize the Pavilion Secretary 10 hours a week to administrate the volunteer program under the direction of the Arts Coordinator and assist in operations scheduling. The additional staff hours would free up the Arts Coordinator and Facilities Manager to work on long range and revenue issues for the Arts Center, such as, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, policies and procedures. Primary Issues to Consider How will additional staffing be financed? For the Arts Center the proposed staffing plan will increase personnel costs $23,000. The projected profit/loss for the Arts Center for 1998 is a Toss of $36,950.00 (see attached budget), approximately $30,000 of those dollars coming from debt retirement. How much revenue will these items generate? If each item generates $10,000, the Arts Center budget becomes breakeven. Under the current level of staffing, we would not capture revenues as quickly as we would by increasing staffing. It would be staffs goal to increase the revenues quickly to offset the increased personnel costs as quickly as possible. On the other side of the proposal, the Pavilion has a history of strong revenues that offset expenses year to year. The increase to that budget by the proposal is $3,000 for 1999. This will be offset by projected revenues and increased profits due to increased efforts in advertising, programming and energy savings by the Facilities Manager. The years following 1999 will see a decrease in personnel expenses, as the Facilities Manager's salary would be totally removed from the Pavilion budget. The original "Public Works proposal" called for 2.7 full -time equivalent employees (FTE's). The interim staffing plan has been at 4.2 FTE's, and is inadequate to address long range planning and revenue production. The proposed plan is for 4.7 FTE's, a cautious plan due to the budget restraints. At this point in the Arts Center history, the direction from the Council and Operations Board is for the staff to act as both a landlord and an enterprising facility operator. To attain both goals increased staffing is necessary. The Arts Center Operations Board has approved the Art Center portion of the plan and Public Works approves of the Pavilion side of the plan. I will be asking for the City Council's approval of the plan at a future City Council meeting. • Page 3 Currently, the Art Center staff has had very little time to work on fundraising and marketing of the Arts Center, due to day to day activity. The additional personnel would free up time to: 1. Start a membership program for the Arts Center 2. Research and apply for Grants 3. Research and determine how to incorporate 501(c)3 status into the Arts Center to increase fundability 4. Better service the Operations Board to maximize their fundraising potential 5. Identify the market for the space that is available, and pursue those groups or individuals 6. Develop annual fundraising events 7. Further develop a volunteer program to save personnel dollars and for building security Is the recommended staffing plan the best alternative for both facilities?