I am starting this post while I wait for BAT’s final meeting with the student at the Foster 
School of Business at the UW.
Due to a rather odd set of occurrences, BAT was able to join forces with the Foster School of Business to see if we could get a handle on BAT’s economic impact on the City of Burien. It has been a very interesting trip. I have had the opportunity to get to know a handful of students and their corporate consultants. My faith has been renewed for the future of business.
This was the students’ first exposure to the odd world of non-profits and the especially odd world of non-profit theater. I was often asked questions like people — fill in the blank — (actors, designers, directors, stage managers) work for THAT amount of money? I would always explain, BAT would like to pay more, but with a 94 seat house and no trust fund, that is the most we can pay. Nevertheless, the students were impressed and their eyes were opened to the idea that not everything one does is for the money. A good lesson for those at a school of business.
The students came to see a show and were very impressed with the whole experience, from the production values to the kindness of BAT’s volunteers. (Plus they liked the cocktails designed for the show.) Again, a good lesson on what you can do on next to nothing with great people volunteering to help.
For my part, I was very impressed with how bright the students were. It has been a long time since I studied statistics and data analysis, but these students had it down, and then some.
I have not yet seen the final report, and don’t really have a good idea what BAT’s economic impact is on Burien, but I am very confident what these students find will be very accurate. As I said, the amount of work that went into this study was very impressive.