Businesses, cultural groups create an artful link.

• Author: Cote, Maria
• Position: CULTURE

The list of reasons to support cultural organizations is as vast as the sky in a painting by Rembrandt. Arts organizations add vitality to a community. Imagine Colorado without its many arts museums, the Colorado Ballet or the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Education and entertainment are essential to those who live in the state, as well as our visitors.

Deborah Jordy, executive director for the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, would add one more plug for the arts: economic vitality.

The organization, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary at a luncheon March 11, is a catalyst for the state's business community to leverage the arts for economic vitality.

"We're a membership organization focused on how to engage businesses and their employees in the arts," says Jordy, who's been in her job for six years. "We engage employees of businesses through philanthropy that's committed to arts and culture."

Around 130 businesses, encompassing around 75,000 employees, participate in CBCA, Jordy says. Despite the rough economic times, that number has remained stable over the past few years, though there has been some decline in corporate support for special projects, she says.

Jeff Tetrick, chief financial officer of Pinnacol Assurance, points to a CBCA 2008 Economic Activity Study of Metro Denver.

"Cultural organizations have close to a $2 billion impact in Colorado," says Tetrick, who is treasurer of the organization.

"Through CBCA, we can offer opportunities for our employees to participate in activities, from tours of the Opera House to behind-the-scenes looks at art museums," Tetrick says.

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Jordy agrees that an integral part of the CBCA is that it's a link, connecting companies and their employees with the cultural community.

"We offer free arts programs to our members, and we see a lot of them go to performances, exhibitions, talks and lectures," Jordy says. "We support everything from edgy performances to family programming, and work with everything from the smallest theater to the largest museums.

"Though we're not a fundraising organization, there is a trickle-down effect. Say an employee of one of the businesses goes to the ballet, and gets a chance to...