When Tom Shaw joined the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce, he looked forward to meeting new people and attending social functions. Because his clients are not local, he didn’t anticipate that he would find too many business opportunities.
However, less than four months after he became a member, he has joined forces with another new member, Elizabeth Stone, to form the Art for Children’s Healing (ACH) initiative. This limited partnership came about after Shaw heard Stone’s introduction during a chamber mixer.
A chamber member “twisted my arm purple to become a member of the chamber as I was reluctant to join thinking my usual clientele would not be attending chamber functions.
Never say never,” he said.
Shaw is a healthcare marketing consultant specializing in national and regional health promotion initiatives working with non-profit organizations, university medical centers, and hospitals. When Stone said that she worked with children’s book illustrators and had sold art to the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian, Shaw was intrigued. After the introductions, he ventured over and introduced himself, explaining what he did and leaving her with his business card.
“I usually lose business cards, but for some reason I kept his one, and decided to call him,” Stone said. “That’s how it all began. Tom said, ‘I think my business and your business could do well together.’”
“Elizabeth and I met at the chamber meeting on St. Patrick's Day and we were exhibiting at our first national medical meeting the first week in May,” Shaw said. “My collaboration with Elizabeth Stone and her company is called the Art For Children's Healing Initiative. Based on ‘evidence based design research,’ the healthcare environment for children needs to be ‘coping’ and ‘less stressful’ and the work of the children's book illustrators in the Elizabeth Stone Gallery ideally meets this need. Elizabeth's work at the new Morgan Stanley's Children's Hospital in N.Y.C. combined with the research impressed me greatly. My contacts and relationships in healthcare matched well with what she was doing. There was a definite business opportunity and our initiative was born.”
AFTER STONE AND SHAW presented at the annual Pediatric Academic Societies held in Washington, D.C. in May, they had leads from over 25 interested parties. They have already been out to the opening reception of the Children's Hospital of Michigan. They are talking to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital and they have received a fund-raising letter from INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital.
Shaw and Stone will participate in the hospital’s Annual Art from the Heart, a fund-raiser to benefit their Healing Arts Program and the beginnings of their permanent "healing art" collection. The dinner and silent auction is Sept. 24 at the Mount Vernon Country Club. In addition, Shaw and Stone will meet with Piper Dankworth, director of development and Beverley Alexander, development officer, for possible relationship with the Healing Arts program at that hospital and other hospitals they may suggest.
Shaw’s son, Ron, is working with Stone to put together a Web site for the new company. The Web site, www.artforchildrenshealing.com, contains a gallery of illustrators that Stone works with.
“I thought I’d meet nice people connected to the arts,” Stone said. “I had no idea this would happen. I have the materials to make a successful business and he has the background and expertise. Tom seems to be connected with just about everybody.”
“The whole reason for networking within the chamber is to establish business to business relationships,” said Barbara Sullivan, chamber president and director of business development, Retirement Unlimited, Inc. “We (Paul Spring) have successfully developed a list of new vendors due to those relationships.”