Circus Mojo has received a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration State Trade and Export Promotion that will allow the Ludlow enterprise to further its Circus Wellness Vocational Training Program.
Circus Mojo founder Paul Miller recognized that entertainment and education services qualify as an export. He applied for and received the federal funds that allowed the organization to exhibit at World Trade Day in Louisville. The event celebrates and promotes global partnerships.
STEP works to raise the number of small businesses that export and increase the value of small-business exports.
Circus Mojo requested assistance from the U.S. Commercial Service to train international students in its circus arts vocational program. The company joined Governor Steve Beshear on his 2015 Canada Trade Mission.
Circus Mojo has brought performers and students from 25 countries – including Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Australia and Germany – to Ludlow, Kentucky since 2010.
Circus Mojo provides personal development training to children and adults to unlock personal talent, confidence, drive and spirit.
“You will not find a more international business than the circus,” says Miller. “In the past 5 years Circus Mojo has hosted students, coaches and artists from 25 countries Antigua to Australia, Germany to Ghana, Indonesia to Israel, Sudan to Surinam.
“These funds will continue our global reach while impacting our local economy.”
Paul Miller is producer and founder of Circus Mojo and also founder of the Social Circus Foundation.
Education is the seventh largest export for the U.S., worth approximately $20 billion according to trade.gov.
Miller says Circus Mojo has a track record of tapping international talent and ideas for its Circus Wellness Program and Vocational Training in schools and nontraditional settings in the Greater Cincinnati Area.
The STEP funds will help Circus Mojo export its entertainment, education and community development services through training programs based in the greater Cincinnati area. The company travels to Germany, Israel and Mexico to recruit students for circus arts training. Students will train in Ludlow and surrounding areas and at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. For the past five years the Cooperative Society at Cincinnati Children’s has supported and funded Circus Mojo’s Circus Wellness program, which brings joy and distraction to patients five days a week.
Circus Mojo adapts and employs international concepts and applies these to impact patient satisfaction at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and works toward accreditation with the Arts in Healthcare Certification Commission (AIHCC). The AIHCC exists to establish credentialing mechanisms that promote patient safety and improve the quality of care provided to participants of arts in healthcare services.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development directs and administrates the STEP program, funded by federal dollars. Application information for the STEP program can be found at www.kyexports.com.
Restoring the Ludlow Theatre Facade
Miller and his wife, Renee, purchase the historic Ludlow Theater in 2009 to serve as a base of their operations in Ludlow.
They are in the process of raising funds to restore its facade. While the theater is under construction Circus Mojo has rented space at Sts. Boniface & James and Ludlow First Baptist Church.
Their goal is to restore the Ludlow Theatre as a one-of-a-kind entertainment destination, rooted in history and community, for a modern-day audience.
The theatre opened in 1946, boasting an Art Deco design. It served as a primary source of entertainment with evening shows, matinees and features. The building endured many transitions after its post-war heyday and eventually operated as a clutch manufacturing plant for over two decades.
See the Ludlow Theatre project at Indiegogo for information on how you can help.
