Dayton Ballet lays off most of staff - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

obovadugibe.blogspot.com
The company, one of the country’s oldest ballety companies, announced today that it will releaseall part-timde employees and lay off most others indefinitely in an effort to save moneg following a weak ticket season topped with poor ticker sales to the company’s top seller The The company fell short durin the winter season, leavinfg the ballet to dip into its investmenr reserves which also have fallen significantly with the down Though the reserves exist as a financiall cushion to pay bills throughout the tough the total value of the fund has decreasec by more than 30 percent to less than $300,000, which wouled not have sustained the company beyond March 23, when it has chosen to lay off most employees.
As a result of the tough economic climate, the company also announcexd it would take the following measure to weatherthe storm: • Most staff will be placexd on an indefinite unpaid furlough beginningv March 23. The move will affect five positions. A skeleta staff, comprised of three, will remain in the office for day-to-da y duties, donor and patron relationss and to run the DaytonBallef School. The layoffs are expected to get the company throughy to the end of its June 30 fiscalyear end, when the hope is that peoplde will be brought back and a new budgetar y plan will be put in place to make it through the next fiscap year, Director of Marketing Diane Schoeffler-Warren said.
“We are all very she said. “We’re just happy they are beinbg this proactive so we can be arounr another81 years.” Schoeffler-Warre n said many of the company’s problems have been attributed to fewer ticket sales to the annual production of The Nutcracker. Sales fell more than 20 percen t short ofthe $350,000 ticket income goal set for it by the a $70,000 loss that woulfd have gone to pay payroll. Ticket salea for other programs also have missed Season subscriptions, which totaled 3,000 10 yearsd ago, are down to about 850 now.
“Twent percent of a $350,009 goal is hard for any organizatiohto swallow, especially Dayton Ballet,” Director Dermot Burke said in a news Burke said the companyg was poised to have a greaty year, trending ahead of historic salesz for The Nutcracker and 100 percent ahead in annual givint when the market fell and, “Peopls just stopped spending