Business Committee for the Arts Announces 2009 BCA Ten

Business Committee for the Arts (BCA), a division of Americans for the Arts, announces THE BCA TEN: Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America. Since 2005, BCA has annually recognized ten companies for their exceptional support of the arts in the United States. These companies have exhibited exemplary support for the arts in recent years through grants, volunteer programs, matching gifts, local partnerships, sponsorships, and board membership.

The BCA TEN awards will be presented by Americans for the Arts this evening during a black-tie gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

THE BCA TEN – 2009 companies are:

• Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA
• Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA
• Arketype Inc., Green Bay, WI
• Brainforest Inc., Chicago, IL
• Dollar Bank, Pittsburgh, PA
• Duke Energy, Charlotte, NC
• Hanesbrands Inc., Winston-Salem, NC
• Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, Philadelphia, PA
• UMB Financial Corporation, Kansas City, MO
• Williams & Fudge Inc., Rock Hill, SC

"These businesses are being recognized for their exceptional involvement in the arts throughout the workplace and in their communities. They provide the arts with significant financial and in-kind support, and they incorporate meaningful arts-related programs into lives of millions of Americans,” said J. Barry Griswell, chairman, BCA Executive Board. "This year’s extraordinary honorees are corporate leaders who are developing and sustaining arts and arts education programming in towns of all sizes across the country.”

"As dedicated members of the arts and business community, we are grateful to honor corporations that recognize the value of the arts and work to ensure that the arts thrive in their communities,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. "We encourage all individuals, foundations, and corporations to continue investing in the arts. This investment helps secure the arts fundamental purpose: to delight, to inspire, to portray, and to provoke, and along the way to help create a better America.”

Business and arts leaders from across the country are slated to attend tonight’s ceremony during which the BCA Leadership Award and BCA Hall of Fame Award will also be presented.

The BCA Leadership Award will be presented to Thomas A. James, chairman and chief executive officer of Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg, FL. The award was established by BCA in 1993 to recognize individuals whose vision, commitment and leadership champion the arts.

This year’s inductee to the BCA Hall of Fame is Movado Group, Inc., based in Paramus, NJ. Movado is being recognized for its rich artistic legacy, modern design aesthetic, and strong commitment to the fine and cultural arts. Efraim Grinberg, Chairman, President & CEO, will be accepting the award. BCA established the BCA Hall of Fame in 1992 to recognize companies that demonstrate exceptional long-term support to the arts.

The Media Sponsor of THE BCA TEN is USA TODAY and the Presenting Sponsor is The Principal Financial Group. The Sustaining Sponsor is The First American Corporation and Leadership Circle supporters are C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, Martha and Bronson Ingram Foundation, Morgan Stanley, and Vinson & Elkins LLP.

For information about BCA and its programs and events, visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org/bca.

Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. (BCA) was founded in 1967 by David Rockefeller to bring business and the arts together. Since then, business support to the arts has grown from $22 million in 1967 to $3.16 billion in 2006. BCA’s mission is to ensure that the arts flourish in America by encouraging, inspiring and stimulating business to support the arts in the workplace, in education and in the community.

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, DC, and New York City, it has a record of 49 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

ABOUT THE BCA TEN, LEADERSHIP AWARD, AND HALL OF FAME HONOREES

Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA

Adobe has a long history of championing the arts and creativity, and a strong track record of supporting the community, which includes not only funding but also providing resources, programs, and technology that inspire creativity and the arts in communities in which Adobe operates. In 2008, Adobe granted approximately $3.3 million to the arts, approximately 48 percent of its grants budget. Additionally, Adobe has provided more than $5 million dollars in software to arts and cultural organizations. Adobe also encourages employee art contests, displays art work in the corporate offices and matches employee gifts to the arts.

Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA

Applied Materials has supported its local arts community for more than 30 years. It focuses its arts support on "anchor” organizations as well as programs that take art and culture outside traditional settings to reach people of diverse backgrounds; expose youth to artistic expression and creativity; support the infrastructure of small- and mid-sized organizations; and encourage cross-sector collaboration and visionary leadership. Applied Materials also encourages its employees to support the arts throughout the country by matching charitable contributions to arts and other nonprofit organizations.

Arketype Inc., Green Bay, WI

Art and design is fundamental to Arketype’s business and mission. The company has supported the arts with approximately $1.7 million in sponsorships and in-kind time and talent since 1992. Arketype’s core philosophy is the 80/20 rule—80 percent of time is spent on billable projects and 20 percent time is spent providing in-kind design, video, and multimedia work to the community. Arketype also works with Wisconsin public officials to ensure that the state cultivates a creative workforce to compete in a 21^st century global economy.

Brainforest Inc., Chicago, IL

Brainforest is a Chicago creative agency that believes in giving back to the community through pro bono design work for worthy causes, supporting individual team members with charity fundraisers and through its philanthropic endeavor, BFriend. BFriend’s main initiative, Creative Pitch, gathers unused and unwanted art materials from the Chicago creative community and makes those materials available, free of charge, to art educators. Since the program began almost four years ago, Creative Pitch has served more than 75 schools and learning centers, benefitting thousands of students.

Dollar Bank, Pittsburgh, PA

Dollar Bank has included the arts in its business since the 1870s when it commissioned an artist to create the signature lions guarding the front door of the Fourth Avenue branch. Dollar Bank is now embarking on a major project to restore and replicate those brownstone lions at the historic Fourth Avenue building in downtown Pittsburgh. For the past seven years, Dollar Bank has been a major sponsor of annual The Three Rivers Film Festival in Pittsburgh. The bank is also the main stage sponsor of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, which attracts artists from across the country. Dollar Bank provides additional support to numerous cultural organizations and arts events throughout western Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.

Duke Energy, Charlotte, NC

Duke Energy provides support for the arts and culture through civic leadership, volunteerism, and contributions. Through programs like Volunteers in Action and its annual Global Service Event, thousands of employees and retirees across the company participate in hundreds of volunteer projects. The company involves its employees in its workplace giving campaigns through the Arts and Science Council in Charlotte and the Fund for the Arts in Cincinnati. For the past 16 years, Duke Energy has ranked among the top 10 Fine Arts Fund campaign contributors in support of arts and culture in the Greater Cincinnati area.

Hanesbrands Inc., Winston-Salem, NC

Hanesbrands Inc. believes the arts nurture community spirit, are integral to educating children, build social connections, and engage individuals in collaborative efforts throughout the community. Over the past 10 years, Hanesbrands and its employees have given more than $5.6 million to the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, making the company the Arts Council’s largest corporate supporter. It has also been a major supporter of the National Black Theatre Festival, the River Run Film Festival, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem, and the annual Winston-Salem Rock the Block festival.

Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, Philadelphia, PA

For more than 100 years, Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (RSL) has strived to improve the quality of life, not only of its policyholders, but also of its employees and the communities in which they live. Today, RSL supports the arts through generous funding of the Delphi Project Foundation, which provides comprehensive art education programs that seek to positively impact underserved youth in Philadelphia. The Foundation’s visual and performing arts initiatives promote and enhance awareness of the arts, and enable young adults to build critical thinking skills through artistic expression. Special emphasis is placed on providing safe and positive activities for at-risk youth during out-of-school hours.

UMB Financial Corporation, Kansas City, MO

UMB’s century-long support for the arts was ignited by the passion of its founding family, the Kempers. Today, the company continues to dedicate time and monetary resources towards the education, promotion and support of arts programs and artists on both a local and national scale. This enthusiasm radiates throughout the organization, as the company and associates have embraced this as a shared cause. UMB recently created "pARTnership place at UMB” to lease space at below-market rates to arts organizations in Kansas City. pARTnership place provides a downtown hub for arts organizations to share administrative and gallery space.

Williams & Fudge Inc., Rock Hill, SC

Since its founding in 1986, Williams & Fudge, Inc. has heavily invested in its community, both in capital and in human resources. The arts serve to foster a sense of community by bringing people of diverse backgrounds and interests together in shared endeavors and Williams & Fudge leads by example. The company is a steadfast support of local arts organizations. The company also supports arts education programs in the local schools through its employee volunteerism and grants to arts teachers.

Thomas A. James, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Raymond James Financial, BCA Leadership Award

Tom James is chairman and chief executive officer of Raymond James Financial, Inc., a diversified holding company that provides financial services to individuals, corporations, and municipalities through subsidiary companies. Tom James is also president of the board of trustees of The Salvador Dal? Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, and was a former board member of Business Committee for the Arts. During his almost four decades as head of Raymond James, the company has given approximately $25 million to community causes and organizations.

Movado Group, Inc., BCA Hall of Fame

Movado’s patronage of the arts ranges from commissioning world-renowned artists to create limited edition timepieces to supporting major arts institutions. The company has proudly sponsored some of this country’s most prestigious cultural institutions including Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and many others. Movado is a world-renowned brand, recognized for its rich artistic legacy, modern design aesthetic and strong commitment to the fine and cultural arts. Movado is proud of its longtime role as a supporter of the performing arts, and of its associations with individuals and organizations acclaimed for their artistry and excellence.