All eyes are on the weather this planting season. County fair boards also watch the forecast closely. With entertainment and attendance depending on good weather, success can be like flipping a coin. That makes insurance a necessity.
Robert Holmes is the president of Spectrum Weather and Specialty Insurance. His clients are nationwide, but his roots are in the Upper Midwest. Robert grew up in Minnesota and attended college in Wisconsin. He was a weather researcher at UW-Madison for eight years before starting his business. His job today is to help fairs protect their bottom line in case of a severe weather event.
Holmes says protecting a county fair is essential because of its importance to the rural community it’s in.
“County fairs are about community, FFA, 4-H, and bringing a work ethic from the kids and family traditions. It’s really about those kinds of values,” he says. “In order to do those things at the fair, there are some financial needs: rodeos, etc. to sell tickets and have fun. That needs to be protected because next year if they have a bad year, it might be a minimal fair or no fair at all.”
Holmes puts the loss of a Friday night concert at the fair into perspective.
“You could have a situation.. concert… all your costs might be $40,000. And between ticket sales and everything else, your goal is to go over that $40,000 and maybe make $10,000,” he explains. “Let’s say it’s a horrible night, power outages, you’re refunding tickets, all that money goes away. You lose all your revenue, but you still have to pay the artist. That could easily be a $40,000 or $50,000 loss. If you have insurance in place, that loss goes away.”
