Business View Magazine | July 2022

147 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 full-time employees. Seasonal help is hired starting in April, first bringing in a crew to mow the 400-acre complex grounds once a week. “By the time the fair gets here we will normally be closer to 900 employees,” says Wolfe, who shares that last year they were unable to find enough workers, putting on the fair with less that half of the normal staff. Despite this challenge, Wolfe reports, “Revenue was actually up. People were ready to get out, but the attendance was down maybe 10,000 over an average year.” This is a small dip in visitors for an event that sees an average of 350,000 people annually. Anticipating a return to normal numbers this year, Missouri State Fair has much to look forward to, including the planned expansions which will allow the fairgrounds to offer even more. Wolfe boasts, “We are really excited about what’s coming up. I know a lot of money is going to go out over the next three years. There’s about a year in planning and probably two years in construction and, during that time, we are hoping to raise a lot of private funds through our Foundation, with the hopes of really expanding some of our livestock facilities.” Offering her final thoughts, Mergen shares, “You come to the fair, because you always come, and you always see whatever it is that you always see. While you are here, we also want you to see something new. We want new visitors, of course, and we want to make sure that while they’re here, they’re having a good time, and that they want to come back and see something new every year.” Embracing the theme “Buckets of Fun” this August, the 2022 Missouri State Fair promises to be another memorable experience for all. MI SSOUR I STATE FA I R