In May, Hal Real of World Café Live, asked Ozer to join the lobbying group NIVA (National Independent Venues Association) that he had co-founded in April. Real specifically asked Ozer to be the Delaware Precinct Captain. Delaware is a small state, but it has big influence in the form of Senator Chris Coons. Ozer’s lobbying of Coons effectively got the Senator to back NIVA’s proposed relief bill, and that support was instrumental in getting senators from other states to fall in line. In the end, NIVA secured 15 billion dollars in funding for small, independent venues. To put that in perspective, 15 billion is 50 times the yearly operating budgets of the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities. Now, Ozer has moved on to a position of outreach, searching out those venues who may not have known about the aid, getting them to join NIVA which will then, in turn, support them through the process of applying for those funds. Simultaneous to these efforts, Ozer applied for and received year-end
Ron Ozer was instrumental in the lobbying efforts that resulted in $15 billion being committed by the federal government to help independent venues survive COVID. Photo by Joe del Tufo
grants through the state’s CARES funding which have taken The Arden Club beyond subsistence-level worries to a position of planning for the future with secure financial footing. Arden Club President Pat Toman sums it up, “Ron Ozer's passion for live performance is unmatched, as is his dedication to helping the Arden Club survive. His tireless contributions, along with the tremendous support of others within the community, ensure that everything the Arden Club and the gilds have brought to the community throughout the years continues past our current challenges.” The Arden Concert Gild is currently putting holds on artists for concerts as early as September 2021, though it is unclear whether that is a realistic timeline. But the question of When will we experience live music locally? feels manageable compared to wondering if we will have that experience again. When the day comes that The Arden Gild Hall opens its doors to its first postCOVID concert, I will walk there, wearing my Merrills and sharing in the gratitude for the folks who made it happen.
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