After five years, the Weber County Fair finally made money.
The fair first opened in 1988, and that year it lost $150,717. This year, when all the entertainers have been paid, ribbons bought and sponsor donations collected, the fair will show a modest $4,648 profit, according to reports from the county auditor-clerk-treasurer's office.Officials say tight budgeting gets the credit for the turnaround. Revenues were up only about $5,000 over last year, when the operation lost $35,018. But this year, expenses were cut by nearly $35,000.
"I think it was a lot of smaller savings all the way across the board," said Brad Dee, the fair's administrative services director. "I thought the entire staff took ownership in what we did. It was a team approach."
While the overall revenue increase was modest - from $269,423 to $274,540 - it was significant because the fair was shortened from a five-day to a four-day run.
Following this year's success, there seems to be agreement the four-day format is here to stay, and not just for financial reasons.
Excitement at the fair always seems to build up to Saturday, said Commissioner Joan Hellstrom.
"Sunday it was kind of anticlimactic," she said.
Other factors credited with this year's success included community and fair board involvement, a beefed-up advertising campaign, good weather and strong entertainment draws.
Eliminating the Rusty Spike Cattle Drive and moving the concerts inside the Golden Spike Arena saved money. Concerts in previous years in the outdoor grandstands required rental of a stage and towers for lighting equipment.
As always, the fair was planned largely by volunteer fair board members. But unlike previous years, the fair's professional management was headed by a four-member team of Golden Spike Arena employees in the wake of arena director Cindy Williams' firing in February.
New arena director Gary Myrup, hired in part for his record of profitable management of the Sanpete County Fair, came on board shortly before the August fair.