Ever hear the joke about the props master who goes to the producing director and asks for $50 dollars to buy material?

The director responds in a fast fury, diminishing the amount with each exclamation: “Fifty dollars! You can’t have $40! Thirty dollars is too much! What do you need $20 for?”

That’s the way arts organizations are forced to stretch dollars, said Mark Torres, producing director for the Penobscot Theatre. Torres was one of three local arts organization leaders who spoke Wednesday at the Bangor Motor Inn before the Greater Bangor Chamber of Commerce on the topic “The Arts in Action: Good for Business in the Bangor Area.”

John Rohman, who organized the breakfast meeting, said that one of the most important considerations for the Defense Finance Accounting Service, which has proposed opening a center in Bangor, was the state of the arts in the area. The attraction and retention of quality employees, he said, was greatly enhanced by arts organizations and the nearby businesses that support them.

Torres, John Patches, executive director at the Maine Center for the Arts, and Todd Greenquist, president of the board of directors for the Robinson Ballet, discussed the important relationship between Bangor’s arts organizations and local businesses. For every dollar spent at an arts organization, said Torres, four are spent at area businesses, such as restaurants, stores, and gas stations.

“Supporting the arts in general can be called good business,” he added. “I’m very interested in what I do and very proud of doing it here. And I only want to do it better.”

Budget cuts in arts education have an impact on the creative success of businesses, said Patches. He added that college acceptance rates among medical students with liberal arts backgrounds are higher than for those with scientific backgrounds. Creativity, Patches said, has a place in every profession.

Patches addressed the recent downsizing at the University of Maine, and said that the Maine Center would not suffer under the widespread cuts. The construction of the Center for the Study of Performing Arts, which will connect the Maine Center to Memorial Union and house the music and theater departments, will move forward as planned. The facility, according to Patches, will be “a major cultural complex that does not have a parallel in New England.”

Financial sponsorship was not the only type of support these leaders were explaining during the meeting. They also spoke of a general community willingness to support, enjoy and learn about the arts.

“It is that kind of support that arts organizations need from not just businesses, but from everybody,” said Greenquist. “It’s your economic and emotional support the arts organizations are looking for.”