<div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">I just recently took a position at a community roadhouse and arts center (Paramount Center for the Arts) in St. Cloud, MN. So, I don't have any of the construction/production duties that you would have, though my schedule is still very busy. Even so, my salary is $70K (though without health benefits of any kind...sigh).</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">I agree with your staffing assumptions, and you could use that to leverage a higher salary, for sure. That's not even to mention your career as an educator, which puts you in the position of being able to creatively and adaptively budget (and staff) for the advantage of the company (at your discretion...but don't say that, lol) in uncertain times. Those are skills which must be acquired over time, rather than taught.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">I'd say that $67K in D.C. (a rather expensive place to exist), is VERY low, by about $8-10K or so, minimum. Also, remember, comp time and any other benefits aren't salary. Only cash buys mac & cheese.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">I agree with Kristi RC that the MIT Cost of Living Calculator is a good guide to work from, and can also be a useful negotiating tool as long as it is framed correctly.</div><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><b>Tim Catlett</b></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Jul 8, 2025 at 8:32 AM John McAfee via Stagecraft <<a href="mailto:stagecraft@theatrical.net">stagecraft@theatrical.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Hi all,<br>
<br>
I’ve gotten an offer for a TD position from a LORT theatre in the DC area. The salary offer is 67,000, which seems low to me and is 3,000 lower than the last time the position was advertised. The shop currently consists of two carpenters and a scenic artist, with no plans to hire an ATD or shop supervisor (which were previous positions). This means that I would be the only exempt staff member in scenic and though I could accrue comp time for weeks where I work over 40 hours, I don’t know that I’d practically be able to take it. Not staffing up indicates financial uncertainty (understandable in the current climate), but by saving the salaries of the other two positions, the extra slack would fall to the TD and there should be some compensatory acknowledgment of that.<br>
<br>
The upcoming season -could- be built successfully with a lean shop supplemented by overhire, but I expect a professional theater that builds scenery in-house to have a TD, ATD, shop supervisor, and at least three carpenters along with a painter (ideally at least a painter and a half).<br>
<br>
I’ve spent much of my career in higher ed, where I have been generally underpaid and deeply understaffed, so I wanted to get a temperature check for my assumptions as I go into negotiation/shop advocacy.<br>
<br>
Happy to answer questions.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
John<br>
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