Special Bd. of Aldermen — 10/26/15 Page 2
session with the Steering Committee to discuss how best to develop an operational business model. We also
engaged a new market tax credit consultant to help us assess and develop a plan for securing new market tax
credit.
Where are we at right now; so first and foremost we have the Steering Committee working and meeting
regularly and | wanted to just also encourage everyone who has an interest to get involved. We want everyone
to feel as though they can participate and be involved in the conversation. At the end of the day | say to folks
that this is not my Performing Arts Center, this is the City of Nashua’s Performing Arts Center, so we want to
make sure that everyone feels as though they are invested.
Operations — We have met with various communities and we have discussed differing methods on how
performing arts centers are operated. We reviewed differing RFP’s there were issued and contracts awarded
within the last few years relative to management and operations of performing arts centers. We have
continued our engagement with Duncan Webb, our performing arts center consultant, we have spoken to him
on a couple of times this summer to gain his advice relative to constructing an operation business model. We
have developed a strategic guiding document to help craft an RFP and to develop the operational guidelines.
We have developed an RFP that will be released this week and | am hopeful that responses will be due at the
end of October, seeking a third party operator.
Relative to design, we released an RFQ for both construction management and architectural and engineering
forms; we received 10 responses from construction management firms; 12 responses from architectural and
engineering forms. On October 8" a meeting will be held with a subset of the Steering Committee to review
the various responses and to plot the next steps. Ideally we will have a firm selected by mid-November.
Relative to the fundraising, in the report that goes into much greater detail will outline that the working group
has a high level of confidence that the project will secure approximately $6.5 million in private sector funding, a
projected $2.5 million through private charitable contributions and CDFA tax credits, and a projected $4 million
dollars from the sale of New Market Tax Credits.
In partnership with the working group Full Circle Consulting developed a case for support to tell the story of
why Nashua’s Performing Arts Center is a worthy and charitable support and then met with 30 individual
businesses, institutions of various backgrounds. That is the document that you have in front of you this
evening. | also want to make sure that it is clear that the various stakeholders that they met with were not just
downtown merchants, that this was a broad cross section of business owners and stake holders throughout the
entire City. 33% of those interviewed for this study described themselves as already involved in the arts, and
in Nashua and 63% owned or lead a business in the area and 60% described themselves as actively
interested in the future of downtown. 13% were all three. Those interviewed for the study were asked if they
would consider a contribution in support of the campaign, 56% said yes, 22% said maybe and 22% said no.
We are at essentially the campaign strategy phase of the document, or | should say the lead gift phase of the
campaign. That is essentially where we will be looking to raise approximately 70% of the targeted goal. So we
are transitioning into that lead phase now and as | just outlined we are in the campaign readiness phase, we
are moving towards the lead gift phase and then we will be moving to the major gift phase, the public phase
and then the appreciation phase to secure that private charitable individual contribution of approximately $2.5
million dollars.
The one thing | want to make sure | also point out is during the lead gift phase and the major gift phase, those
are quiet type phases, what do | mean by quiet? There is not a lot of discussion or public talk because those
are individual conversations with usually high net worth individuals or businesses or foundations where you are
looking to secure the commitment.
The bottom slide there, and | will change that for when it gets put up on the internet to white font but it basically
outlines the time line and the chart.
