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The Steel Yard

• The Steel Yard (TSY) focuses on educating the public, offering opportunities to artists, and preserving the industrial arts. In 2004, TSY launched Urban Furniture/Public Art (UFPA), a social enterprise to unite the educational and creative missions of TSY while contributing revenue to advance the organization’s mission. UFPA commissions individual artists to design and produce its products (rubbish barrels, benches, bicycle weathervanes, etc.), and markets them to municipalities, local business associations, real estate developers, architects and private parties. Since 2004, TSY disbursed commissions of over $200,000 to more than 60 local artists through UFPA. All profits are re-invested in TSY’s community courses and youth programs, which offer training in metal work and other traditional crafts to underserved communities. In 2006, TSY began working with SVPRI to refine its business plan and financial controls, to build to annual revenue of $400,000 within the next five years. As a result of this engagement they have gained better understanding of the scope of their work, their actual costs, and the key mission values which inspire the work. Said UPFA Coordinator Howie Sneider, “SVPRI has offered us incredible insight and advice, from legal consultation to job tracking and time management. They have been available to assist, and advise us with major decisions, while keeping our values as an organization at the core of their work.”

• The most recent work with SVPRI partners has been most significant in helping to refine the program design/strategy and proposed vendor review for the implementation of our planned ArtTix upgrade.

• This work was most helpful in providing support and alternative perspectives/ considerations to the planning committee working on the project.

• The program is still in the conceptual phase, so it’s been extremely helpful for us to get to a level of refine and understanding of possible impacts, and to clearly work through potential implementation strategies prior to any negotiations with the vendor. This will obviously prove invaluable in terms of resource conservation for both the project and the organization-very important since-as is the case of most non-profits-there is very little margin for time consuming or costly missteps!