Reno, Nev. (June 30, 2015)—A national arts organization has chosen NV Energy and the NV Energy Foundation as one of the 2015 top 10 businesses in the country for helping community arts to thrive, based on a nomination from the Nevada Arts Council earlier this year. Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit for advancing the arts and arts education, selected the company as part of the Business Committee for the Arts awards known as the BCA 10. NV Energy and the NV Energy Foundation are the first business in Nevada to receive this recognition.

Presented every year, the BCA 10 awards honor only 10 U.S. companies for their exceptional commitment to the arts through grants, local partnerships, volunteer programs, matching gifts, sponsorships, employee involvement and board membership.

“The Nevada Arts Council submitted this nomination because the Nevada Arts Council and NV Energy and the NV Energy Foundation are committed to ensuring that Nevada remains rich in arts,” said Susan Boskoff, executive director of the Nevada Arts Council. “We mutually believe that the arts are absolutely essential to the wellbeing of our state - creating vibrant communities, diversifying local economies and providing our children a complete education. For example, with the support of NV Energy and the NV Energy Foundation, sponsorship of our statewide Poetry Out Loud Program ensures that high school-aged students in every county have the opportunity to participate in this remarkable initiative,” Boskoff said.

“At NV Energy we believe the arts are essential to the quality of life for all Nevadans wherever they live,” said Paul Caudill, NV Energy president and CEO. Caudill is also chairman of the NV Energy Foundation. “The arts build vibrant communities - whether large or small, urban or rural. Not only are the arts good for communities, they are good for business and are critical to economic diversification, tourism and educational reform strategies. While this award is an honor, the recognition is really a reflection on the thriving arts organizations working so hard every day to create art opportunities for all of us to enjoy.”

Community support has been a part of NV Energy’s company culture for more than 100 years.  In 1987 the company established a charitable foundation and support of the arts has been a part of the NV Energy Foundation’s giving strategy since then.  In just the past 10 years, the NV Energy Foundation has committed $3.4 million to arts and culture initiatives in rural and urban Nevada.  Arts organizations NV Energy and the NV Energy Foundation have recently supported include:

Artown, Arts for All Nevada, Battle Mountain Art Presenters, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley and Truckee Meadows,  Capital City Arts Initiative, Carson Valley Arts Council, Churchill Arts Council, City of Las Vegas-West Las Vegas Arts Center, Congressional Art Awards, Discovery Children’s Museum (Las Vegas), Elko Community Concerts, Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Genoa Cowboy Poetry Festival and the Holland Project.

More are Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Summerfest, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Lovers Aloft in Lovelock, Metro Arts Council of Southern Nevada, National Automobile Museum, Nevada Arts Advocates, Nevada Arts Council, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Nevada Museum of Art, Nevada Opera Theatre Association and Nevada State Fiddle Contest.

Also funded are Northeastern Nevada Museum,  Note-Able Music Therapy  Services,  Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic Association, Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra and Shakespeare Festival in Las Vegas. Funding includes Sierra Arts Foundation, Sierra Philharmonic League,  Smith Center for the, Performing Arts, Washoe Tribe’s Stewart Father’s Day Powwow, Western Folklife Center/National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Yerington Theatre for the Arts, and Washoe County Summer Concert Series at Lazy 5.

BCA 10 award announcements and celebrations are scheduled across Nevada to bring together the many arts organizations NV Energy supports. Events are set for Reno at the Lake Mansion at 11 a.m. June 30; Elko at the Northeastern Nevada Museum at 4 p.m. July 6; and Las Vegas at The Smith Center at 10 a.m. July 15.

The BCA 10 awards will be presented Oct. 6 at a black-tie gala at the Central Park Boathouse in New York City. NV Energy is joined by Ameriprise Financial (Minneapolis, MN); AutoZone, Inc. (Memphis, TN); BNY Mellon (New York, NY); Corning Incorporated (Corning, NY); GE’s FirstBuild (Louisville, KY); Prospective Inc. (Reston, VA); Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods (Houston, TX); The Trust Company of Kansas (Wichita, KS)  and U.S. Bank (Minneapolis, MN).  Special recognition will also be given to BCA 10 Hall of Fame Honoree Duke Energy.

"These businesses provide the arts with significant financial and in-kind support and they incorporate meaningful arts-related programs into their employee, customer, and community relations activities,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “They enrich the lives of millions of Americans and truly set a standard for other businesses to follow."

For information regarding BCA 10, contact Stacy Lasner, Business Committee for the Arts coordinator at (212) 223-2787or via e-mail at slasner@artsusa.org or the Nevada Arts Council at (775) 687-6680.

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