Businesses Back The Beck Campaign

The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, Cox Business, and the City of Lakewood are sponsoring the second annual “Businesses Back the Beck” campaign beginning April 9th. Over 200 Lakewood and West Shore area businesses will have eye-catching donation cans on their counters or at their registers labeled “This Business Backs the Beck” where customers can drop their change to show support for The Beck Center for the Arts. The Chamber’s involvement in “Businesses Back the Beck” is an acknowledgement of the $10 million annual economic impact that The Beck Center has on the City of Lakewood: seventy-five percent of The Beck’s customers – over 56,000 people – are drawn from other communities to The Beck Center, and while they are in Lakewood, they often patronize Lakewood businesses.

Many people know the Beck Center because of its professional theater program. In addition, the Beck provides the most comprehensive arts education program in the region, with classes in dance, theater, music, visual arts, and Creative Arts Therapies. They serve 3,000 students every week, with programming for infants to adults.

One year ago at this time, there were concerns that The Beck Center might be forced to close. The organization worked hard to cut costs and raised enough funds to keep the doors open. Fortunately, they were able to maintain the bulk of their programming during that time. The Beck staff continues to work smart, but contributions are always going to be necessary in order to keep their programming affordable and accessible to the community.

To that end, there is another component of the “Businesses Back the Beck” West Shore Business Campaign: the Corporate Membership program. Depending on the Membership level, benefits include corporate recognition in Beck’s Theater Playbill and on the Wall of Fame in the lobby, plus employer/employee discounts and complimentary tickets.

Beck Center Board member Kathleen Neal and Beck Center Development Committee member Patti Geiger are Co-Chairing the West Shore Business Campaign. The goal of the campaign is to raise $15,000 over the next few months. The Beck Center and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce are encouraging businesses to participate in the West Shore Business Campaign for several very important reasons: a) The Beck Center is a valuable community asset, b) Lakewood businesses have a unique and visible opportunity to demonstrate good corporate citizenship, and c) a financially healthy Beck Center will have a positive impact on the Lakewood business community. The Beck Center, with the support of Lakewood’s business community, looks forward to continuing its mission, “To offer the highest quality arts experience, performance, and education to all people and communities of the region.”

For more information on the “Businesses Back the Beck” campaign, please contact the Beck Center at 216-521-2540.