From left: Conor Evans, Community Builders founder and managing partner; Dominique Tornabe, Morris Arts director of development and marketing; and Tom Werder, Morris Arts executive director, gathered to mark Community Builders’ new three-year, $60,000 investment in the organization. — Courtesy: Morris Arts
By Joshua Burd
Construction firm Community Builders has made a three-year, $60,000 pledge of support to Morris Arts, continuing its commitment to the organization and its growing slate of events.
According to a news release, the contribution makes the Morristown-based firm the founding supporter of Morris Arts’ Corporate Community Champions program, which aims to build an alliance of corporations and business leaders dedicated to improving the community’s education, health and wellbeing through the arts over multiple years. Members of the program work closely with Dominique Tornabe, director of development and marketing, to allocate funds to programs aligned with their mission.
Community Builders’ support ensures the continuation of key events and programs including Morris Arts’ annual Commercial Real Estate Breakfast, which highlights the integration of art in commercial development projects with a panelists such as architects, artists, real estate developers and more.
“Both of our organizations share a focus on community, making us natural partners,” said Tom Werder, Morris Arts’ executive director, noting that the organization has spent more than 50 years providing quality arts education programs, community arts events and arts in health programming that help improve life in Morris County.
Conor Evans, founder and managing partner of Community Builders, added: “Community is powerful. To know and be known authentically is powerful. We are in this community Sunday through Saturday, not just Monday through Friday during business hours. That’s powerful in that there is a higher degree of ownership to both the Morris Arts’ and Community Builders’ missions and approaches. And that mutual alignment is why it was an easy choice on where we would allocate our funding support. Morris Arts and Community Builders are in it, together.”
Founded last year, Community Builders provides construction and facility management services for community-oriented spaces. Part of its $60,000 contribution will also support Morris Arts’ annual Arts in Health Breakfast, a new event that raises awareness for the health benefits of engagement in the arts.
In addition, Community Builders has pledged a $6,500 Community Builders Arts in Health Residency Award that will be presented at the event each year, the news release said. The new award will be used for a project or program that creates a nurturing atmosphere for expressing health, wellness, art, understanding and community building in Morris County, Morris Arts said, adding that it will identify community partners such as local health care, wellness or social services agencies to participate annually.
“Their endorsement of our Commercial Real Estate Breakfast is invaluable to us,” Tornabe said. “Not only do we appreciate Community Builders’ financial support, but as a respected industry player, their endorsement attracts other accomplished professionals and organizations to the event.”
As a Corporate Community Partner, Community Builders will also support Morris Arts’ annual gala, Great Conversations, and the Giralda Music & Arts Festival, an outdoor concert featuring the New Jersey Symphony.
