Business Spotlight: The Voice of Food and Fiber

International associations have a thing for Springfield – at least when it comes to candy and fairs.

The Queen City is headquarters to Retail Confectioners International, since a 2009 move from Chicago, and the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, which planted in Springfield well before then.

Current IAFE staffers thank Lewis Miller for that. The one-time Ozark Empire Fair manager was hired as IAFE’s top executive in 1980 and relocated the 95-year-old organization from Memphis.

“The office pretty much fit in a small truck,” says Chief Operating Officer Marla Calico, a nine-year IAFE staff member.

Three people worked out of rented office space on Kearney Street. Now, a dozen employees in a building owned by the nonprofit manage a $2 million budget to serve over 2,000 fair members and associates. Members stretch from Korea, Australia, England and Mexico.

They have a new president and CEO taking the helm.

Calico takes the reins from 15-year director Jim Tucker on Jan. 1. She came out ahead of some 100 applicants and 10 finalists in a six-month international search by Oak Brook, Ill.-based executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. A search committee of board members interviewed three finalists and made the final call in mid-November.

Calico brings to the post experience as a fair general manager, leading the Ozark Empire Fair for a decade and working on staff nearly 30 years. Longevity seems to be a common thread in the industry.

“I grew up showing livestock and dairy cattle at Ozark Empire Fair at the age of 5,” says Tucker, whose IAFE role is in lobbying and legislative affairs. “I’m pretty sure I attended the Ozark Empire Fair the summer before I was born.”

The IAFE just wrapped up its biggest event of the year: the annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas. Roughly 400 booths and 4,000 attendees filled the Paris Hotel Nov. 29-Dec. 2.

The event represents the majority of IAFE’s $2 million operating budget and serves as the hub of the group’s four core purposes: information, advocacy, networking and education.

“That’s where we devote our most resources,” Calico says of the education component with its workshops, seminars and roundtable discussions.

Calico joined IAFE as its education director and in 2007 launched the 32-course Institute of Fair Management after learning there was no formal training program in United States for fair managers.

“Most learned like me: O-J-T,” she says of the typical “on the job training” approach.

A key topic is food production, and the talks center on a statistic: Farming represents less than 1 percent of the U.S. labor force, according to the CIA’s World Factbook.

Yet, people still are coming to fairs. IAFE internal data show the majority of fairs report annual attendance increases over the last decade.

“Folks are coming to the fair who don’t know where their food and fiber comes from. They think milk comes from the grocery store,” Calico says.

The IAFE executives say this represents an opportunity.

“Government has defaulted on educating the public about the production of food and fiber, which is one of the most important things we do,” Tucker says, citing a U.S. Department of Education study that found 82 percent of school districts had no formal agriculture curriculum.

With this trend, fairs have adjusted their game plans.

Carnival rides can be more elaborate, and musical acts can take center stage. Exhibits of arts and crafts or food preparation are common.

“The entertainment piece is the carrot to get the wheel to move,” Tucker says.

Then, there’s the social media aspect. Calico says it’s challenging to learn and stay up on all platforms and to engage with users, especially when misinformation creeps in.

“That becomes a problem, just like for any business,” she says, before turning to the upside. “Millennials are a perfect audience for the fair. Who’s active on Pinterest? Who’s into the DIY movement? They want to share their pictures and learn foodie recipes.”

Governed by a 20-member board, IAFE has staffed up to produce digital content, including an e-newsletter, a magazine published six times a year and a robust website with public- and member-facing sides. Online, members share a resource library of over 1,000 documents, such as sponsorship proposals and vendor contracts.

If only the IAFE executives could teach how to control the weather.

“The defining factor is always weather,” Calico says. “You can’t compete against heat, and you can’t compete against rain. That’s a fair manager’s nightmare."