Chamber Music Home

I. Overview

For the past five years Summertrios has been working towards the creation of a permanent home for chamber music activities. Our 15 years of experience in running chamber music programs on college campuses has convinced us that a proper facility is badly needed. Not only have we ourselves moved from campus to campus, we know that other chamber music programs have similar problems, and that some programs cannot find facilities at all.

We would like to create a year round home for ourselves and all chamber music programs which need one, which is specifically planned to accommodate (overnight) chamber music groups, and which will be available to them at modest cost.

II. GOALS FOR THIS PROJECT

1.    Create a facility suitable for our programs and those of other music organizations.

Fact: Summertrios spends 30 - 50% of its management time just coping with facilities problems. Management time to plan and administer the programs is seriously depleted because of this.

Music rehearsal rooms -- a sufficient number, suitable size, all in one place, airconditioned, proper lighting, adequate soundproofing, decent pianos,

Bedrooms -- airconditioned and with private baths

Dining facilities, small performance space, social area, plus administrative and maintenance space

2.    Have a facility where we and other organizations can run programs year round.

Fact: 95% of music programs run only in the summer, because that is when space is available.
Fact: Summertrios has a list of at least new 12 programs, but nowhere to hold them.

The new facility will be open year round.

Some of the new programs we are considering include opportunities for entire families; exploration of 21st century string quartet literature; development of performance skills; teacher/student retreats.

3.    Generate cash flow for Summertrios.

Fact: All the administrative work at Summertrios is done by unpaid staff. Much work does not get done because there is no time or money to address it.

Paid administrative staff is needed to stabilize the organization.

The faculty should be paid more -- most are taking a financial loss to work with us

Additional help is needed, whether internal staff or outsourced in areas as diverse as accounting, audio, computer hardware and software, publicity, organizational development and marketing.

Some of the above goals could be partially realized by piecemeal approaches. We have had many, many suggestions of such things, including various approaches to the development of a closer relationship to some college; use of hotel properties for some programs; better (presumably) investment strategies for the funds we do have; and better strategies for fundraising. No suggestion of this kind offers the possibility of meeting all our goals, and none offers a permanent solution for any of them. Some of these ideas destroy one goal in pursuit of another.

We are open to input and suggestions. However, we have, as a result of our openness, heard a lot of suggestions from people who clearly do not understand the complex of problems we are trying to address. We also have been subjected to a lot of arrogance from people who obviously believe that we are just not intelligent enough to have thought of their brilliant solutions. Uniformly these people have not inquired into the problem, nor looked at any of the planning work done towards our solution.

Despite the above, we have also received a lot of good, sound advice from people with knowledge in specialized areas. So do keep that input coming. But please, make sure you understand the question before you start supplying answers.

III. CURRENT STATUS

Summertrios has just dropped out of a contract to purchase a 30 acre property in the Poconos. Although it looked promising in all respects, our environmental engineer gave us a bad report on the wetlands. Wetlands are areas which may look and feel dry, but actually have a high water table and can flood in heavy rains.     They are not suitable for building on.

It used to be that people simply brought in a lot of fill and eliminated the wetland. An enormous amount of construction was done that way. Then in became apparent that destroying wetlands is bad for the environment, as they perform many important chores for the entire habitat, in flood control, water purification, and species proliferation. Recent regulations make it very difficult to get permits to fill in wetlands.

We are good at overcoming obstacles, but this one is too difficult and expensive. We have dropped this site and are seeking another. The attempt has been of value to us, even though it cost both time and money. We are better educated than we were about a host of development issues, and able to address them faster and more cost effectively than we could before.

When we find a new site we will report .

IV. PLANNING

Basic Ideas

When we first considered this idea the immediate questions were: What will it cost? Where would we get the money? and How will we support it? The cost depends of course on whether one builds or buys, the location, and what is included in the package.

The second and third questions are connected. If the facility can generate sufficient funds to pay a mortgage, then the upfront cash required is much smaller. From the beginning we have envisioned the facility as being self supporting, and we have put considerable research and effort into planning a realistic way to do this.

The considerations of needing bedrooms and food for our participants as well as an income stream to support the property have led us to the plan of a hybrid facility -- one which can be used for music groups when they need it, but which can rent rooms to other guests in order to increase cash flow. Given that we want a retreat atmosphere, this desired property shapes up as a combination resort and music retreat.

Originally we thought we might buy an existing hotel property and convert it for our use.    This turned out to be one of those good theoretical ideas that does not work in practice (ask if you want to know why not). We are now hoping to build exactly what we need.

Analyses Performed

Study of the resort business in the Poconos, using the services of several professionals who are very knowledgeable in the business. As a result, we have a preliminary report showing that the project can be financially successful. The firm that did this analysis for us is in the business of doing feasibility studies for hotels. They have done about 200 previous reports of this kind, and have consulted for dozens of hotels and chains. We asked these people to tell us what kind of facility we must build in order to be successful, turning on its head the usual approach of telling them what we mean to build and asking whether it will work. They have risen well to this challenge and presented much excellent advice, along with a complete market analysis of the project.

Study of the finances of the resort business, relying on a very experienced hotel management firm to provide the information and answer hundreds of questions.

Created spreadsheet analyses of over 50 projects, using different assumptions about cost, interest rates, occupancy, room rates, and many other variables. The purpose was to help us understand what it takes to succeed. We also wanted to understand how sensitive the results are to each factor. For example, does a small change in the interest rates make a big change in the results? What about a small change in occupancy? How do small changes play out over several years of operation?

Analysis and research on advanced technologies which will help with cost control, both in the initial cost and in the ongoing maintenance of the facility. We hope to do much more of this once we have selected an architect who can help us. But to give you some idea of the effort put in:

►we have over 20 conceptual plans for the layout of the buildings and the campus
►we have researched technologies as diverse as modular construction, tankless hot water heaters, heat pumps, dome construction, and much more

V. THE PLANNED CHAMBER MUSIC HOME

The facility is being planned in conjunction with our hotel feasibility expert to meet the needs of chamber music groups, and also generate enough income to be self-supporting.

56 bedrooms to start, airconditioned and with private baths

18 rehearsal rooms, airconditioned, with good lighting, and soundproofed.
We hope to have small grand pianos in 15 of these rooms.

A small performance space with a concert piano

Dining facilities

Social space

Check in and administrative space

A music library

VI. MARKETING THE FACILITY TO OTHER MUSIC GROUPS

The advantages to music groups using the facility are:

Permanence
The group may use the facility at the same time each year, which
simplifies planning and avoids extra financial outlays.

Convenience The rehearsal rooms will be all together, as well as near the residences
and all other facilities.

Comfort All spaces will be air conditioned, and on the first floor. The rehearsal
rooms will be properly lighted and soundproofed. The bedrooms will have
private baths.

Less Work       The facility will be a properly managed hotel, which can book participants,
check people in, replace lost keys, deal with maintenance and housekeeping
problems; and spare conference management these and similar problems.

Privacy The facilities will be shared only with compatible groups

Library The Summertrios collection will be available to music groups.
Other collections can be added if people find it advantageous.

VI. MANAGEMENT OF THE FACILITY

Since the major effort in managing the facility will be its hotel aspects, we will hire a professional hotel management firm. There are many firms which do this kind of work. The management firm provides the following services:

Ø Creates a complete management plan, including a business plan, marketing plan, staffing plan and budget; then manages the facility to meet the plan.

Ø Hires and supervises a general manager and replaces him/her as needed; also fills in with their own staff if there is a time gap between managers.

Ø Attends industry conferences on behalf of all the hotels it manages. These conferences are crucial to building business, but can be expensive. Since the Management Firm has many hotels under management, this expense can be split many ways.

Ø Pools buying power with other hotels they manage, so as to minimize our expenditures on everything from furniture to insurance.

For the past several years we have been working with Mike Marshall, President of Marshall Management, Inc., a small hotel management firm. Marshall currently manages 19 hotels. It has made a specialty of turning around properties which were in financial trouble.

So far we have found the relationship with Marshall very productive. Mike has a thorough knowledge of the hotel business, from financing to dishwashing; has many creative business ideas; and appears to be completely honest.

VII. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Why do you think the facility will be self supporting?

A: All business planning includes financial projections. Our financial projections were developed by experts, using industry standard models. The complete analysis shows the project making money.

Of course, anyone can put together a plan that will show a project making money. Our approach was not to project imaginary money, but to do a careful and realistic computation. A great deal of work has been put into the projection. We have tried numerous scenarios, and given careful consideration to our assumptions. We have attempted to be conservative in the projections.

Q: If Summertrios is a not-for-profit organization, how can it have a profit?

A: We are allowed to have profits. However, they must be used to further the purposes for which we were granted not-for-profit status. We cannot use profits to distribute dividends to owners.

Q: If I donate money to you, where do you keep it until you are ready to start building.?

A: The money is being held in an interest bearing escrow account. Funds may be removed from this account only for purposes of furthering the project.

Q: What if I give you a donation for this project and then you are not able to do it? What happens to my money?

A: Should the project as presently planned fall through, we will spend some time trying to find an alternative . If, however, we are unable to get a project underway by September, 2006, we will return to the donors most of their money.

Some of the money will inevitably be spent whether the project succeeds or fails, and that we cannot return.

Q: How much will it cost groups who wish to use the site?

A: Well under the rates charged by commercial hotels, but a little more than a college campus. The facilities will be much superior to a college, and this should be of value to the groups attending.

Q: How will you manage the property if Marshall Management does not work out?

A: There are many competent hotel management firms. We can always hire another one.