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Fair
St. Louis, an annual summer event. This year’s Fair runs
Thursday through Saturday, July 3, 4, and 5. |
FAIR BUSINESS
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CORPORATE
GIVING SUSTAINS FAIR ST. LOUIS.
BY BOB SCHAPER
Ask the corporate sponsors of Fair St. Louis how long they’ve been
supporting the annual summer event, and you’re likely to get a modest,
almost hesitant answer. Simply put, most of them have been helping
for as long as they can remember. But ask the executive director
of the Fair about the importance of corporate sponsorship, and the
answer comes back loud and clear.
“We couldn’t produce the Fair without the cash provided by the corporate
sponsors,” declares Rich Meyers, who’s been at the helm of the Fair
St. Louis Foundation since 1999. “The corporate support covers about
three quarters of the cost associated with producing the Fair.”
Aside from the dollars, Meyers and his razor-thin staff of seven
full-time employees rely on the leadership provided by the business
community. This year’s general chairman of the Fair is Steve Maritz,
chairman and CEO of Maritz Inc.
“My father (the late Bill Maritz) was one of the original founders,”
Maritz says. “So I’ve been around the Fair for a long time—since
its inception.”
A large part of Maritz’ job will be convincing his fellow business
leaders in the community to maintain or increase their financial
support of the Fair—something he says will not be difficult.
“There is a long history of support for the Fair in St. Louis,”
Maritz says. “I believe in doing my part for the community, so I
felt it was both an honor and a privilege to be chairman.”
Local businessman Robert R. Hermann organized the first V.P. Fair
in 1981. To better reflect the true nature of the Fair, its name
was changed to Fair St. Louis in 1994. Each year the Fair strives
to bring world-class entertainment to the Arch grounds—something
Maritz says takes a year-long team effort.
“As soon as the last one ends you start debriefing on what worked,
what didn’t and what improvements can be made,” Maritz says. “Some
of those things take quite a bit of time.”
“There
is a long history
of support for the fair in St. Louis. I believe in
doing my part for the community, so I felt it was
both an honor and a privilege to be chairman.”
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Steve
Maritz
chairman & CEO,
Maritz Inc.
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Along with a lot of sweat, Meyers adds. He estimates around 6,500
volunteers are needed to smoothly pull off the Fair. Of those, 3,000
are involved in Fair operations—everything from delivering ice to
serving as ushers on the main stage. The rest represent the non-profit
groups that operate concession booths.
Meyers stresses that many hundreds of Fair volunteers are employees
of corporate sponsors.
“We couldn’t do without the money from our corporate sponsors,”
Meyers says. “But we also couldn’t produce the Fair without the
volunteer support we get from the employees of our corporate sponsors.”
Craig D. Schnuck, chairman and CEO of Schnuck Markets Inc., says
his company’s associates have been involved in the Fair every year
since the beginning.
“We sponsor an area at the Fair, and we generally have about a hundred
of our associates work at the Fair itself during the weekend,” Schnuck
says. “In addition we have people involved in the planning process.
I served as chairman of the Fair for two years (1997 and 1998),
and that was a year-round proposition.”
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The
Fair St. Louis crowd at dusk, awaiting the concert,
2002. |
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This year’s Fair—which runs Thursday through Saturday, July 3, 4
and 5—has an operating budget of $4.3 million. To make up any shortfall
in corporate giving, Meyers says the organization charges a percentage
of the sales that take place on the fairgrounds. And because the
fairgrounds are located on federal parkland, much of the revenue
goes to Uncle Sam.
“We pay the federal government all the incremental expenses associated
in producing the Fair,” Meyers says. “That includes all the overtime
for park rangers, all the damage to sod or trees, and any entertainment
that might be brought in by the National Park Service to be presented
during the Fair.”
Although the budget for the Fair remains fairly constant from year
to year, Meyers says the actual financial results at the end of
the event vary depending on attendance. Typically the event draws
between 800,000 and 1.2 million, officials estimate, making it one
of the top three Fourth of July celebrations in the country.
CRAIG
D. SCHNUCK
chairman & CEO,
Schnuck Markets Inc. |
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“We have no way of knowing what the amount of sales is going to
be until after the Fair is over,” he says. “Heat, or a split schedule
or concerns about security—like existed last year—could make us
way under budget on the revenue side.”
Though some companies have reduced their levels of giving in the
last year, Meyers says the Fair has weathered the economic downturn.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate,” he says. “Certainly it has affected
some companies more than others, but our level of corporate sponsorship
has held pretty steady over the past few years. We anticipate a
relatively consistent level of support this year.”
Schnuck, who is also president of Civic Progress, agrees.
“The base of support in terms of the numbers of companies that are
supporting the Fair has grown,” Schnuck says. “Some of the larger
companies have cut back the size of their investments, but that’s
really a reflection of the economy and the other demands that are
placed on those companies.”
Maritz believes St. Louis is fortunate to have a group of companies
that take their civic responsibility seriously. And though the rough
financial times certainly makes raising money more difficult, Maritz
says he is also highly optimistic about the Fair’s future.
“It’s a great event for the community,” Maritz says. “There’s a
lot of exciting things on the way.”
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DOUBLE
HEADER
FAIR SAINT LOUIS AND ST. LOUIS CARDINALS BRING DIVERSE GROUPS
TO URBAN CORE
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From
families to friends, fireworks aficionados to jet-fighter
fanatics, Fair St. Louis tries to attract a wide and diverse
crowd to downtown. And since baseball is as American as Fourth
of July, the St. Louis Cardinals have worked with Fair St.
Louis organizers since 1999 to help bring more people downtown
and boost attendance at the Fair and at Cardinals home games.
Through a joint marketing partnership, the Cardinals and Fair
St. Louis help promote each other through traditional media
outlets and on-site promotion. One of the most powerful ways
the Fair works with the Cardinals to spread the word is through
its on-air game broadcasts on KMOX. The Cardinals also publicize
the Fair by putting event information on screen during television
broadcasts. This lets the fans at home know what Fair activities
are happening downtown, and how to join in the fun.
Fair organizers say that Cardinals fans from as far as Kentucky
and Arkansas, who have heard about the Fair while watching
the game, call for more information. Many even plan summer
vacations around the Fair and a Cardinals baseball game, which
is a popular addition to the July itinerary for St. Louis-based
fans. For those who can’t get enough Cardinals action, fans
can visit a Cardinals booth on the fairgrounds after making
the short jaunt from Busch Stadium to the Arch grounds.
With the Riverfront in sight, fairgoers meander through the
city in search of the perfect afternoon or evening. Blocked-off
streets, vendors on the corners, the stirring sounds of music
in the air, and a win for the home team, make the fireworks
that much brighter.
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Bob Schaper is a freelance writer based in St. Louis.
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