Despite the fact he has been executive director of the Ingham County Fair for only a year, Ted Edman has been around fairs long enough to know that he is directing one of Michigan’s top county fairs. Edman, who previously served over two decades on the executive board of the Chelsea Community Fair, guides an organization with an average fair attendance of over 110,000 and an annual budget of nearly 1 million dollars.

The Ingham County fairgrounds sit on 85 acres on the south side of M-36 near Mason’s eastern city limits. This year’s 154th Annual Ingham County Fair runs July 28-Aug. 2.

Q: From where does the majority of your financing come?

A: People think we are taxpayer supported, but we are not. We get $190,000 annually from hotel and motel tax money from Ingham County, but we have no general tax funds at all. The $190,000 is designated as capital improvement money. We operate at a $900,000 budget. So a lot of it is self-generated from horse shows, the fair, RV shows and other rentals of facilities. The banquet center has been a nice addition. We host a lot of wedding receptions. We want to diversify ourselves as much as we can. All but three weekends during the year we are booked with an event of some kind.

Q: Does the fair have a mission statement?

A: The fairgrounds operate under the guide of providing good clean family fun. We call it The Family Fun Fair. Every thing here is related to recreational family fun events.

Q: How important is the support of local businesses to the success of the fair?

A: It is very important to have them onboard. We have numerous sponsorship opportunities available, from signage in the main arena to sponsoring days of the fair; Meijer Kids Day is an example. L&L Food Centers always sponsors a ride day promotion. Doing those types of sponsorships is very important to help us keep the cost of admission down. The nontraditional revenue is going to become more and more important. County and municipalities have to become more self-sufficient and relieve taxpayers of the burdens.

Q: What is the Ingham County Fair all about these days?

A: We don’t want to lose sight of what the fair is and should be. It is still the tradition of who grows the biggest animals and vegetables and who has the strongest tractor and horse. When the communities got together in the old days, it was for community pride and bragging rights. We still emphasize that. Some of that has changed. A lot of fairs went to concerts. We did, too, for a few years, but we lost money on concerts. We are going back this year to bringing in the tractor pulls and going back to the traditional style of grandstand event, like rodeo, tractor and truck pulls. Our livestock numbers are still very strong and holding. Many fairs are seeing less agriculture participation because of more farmers raising houses.

Q: What is your relationship with local 4-H organizations?

A: We continue to support them and work with them very closely. They have been very supportive of us. When you see the families here that show livestock, the social part to it [provides] such good times for the kids. Those kids who show animals have a lot of support from their families. We also work closely with Future Farmers of America.

Q: How important is the midway to a fair’s overall success?

A: Still important in drawing people. The cost of operating a midway has gone up for the operators. We receive a percent of their gross sales. If they make more money, we make more money. We had a new midway last year, and in fact have extended the contract for the Skerbeck Brothers Shows Inc. for two more years, this year and next. They are a company that takes care of their rides, employees and the public. They are very reasonable in setting ride prices and offering coupons. However, in the end we are largely dependant on the weather for much of our midway success.

Q: Any major capital improvements planned for 2008?

A: We are expecting to begin a major redo of the electrical on the fairgrounds this spring. We are eliminating the old overhead wires and going underground with a new three-phase system. We will have all new power supplies to all of the buildings, which has been a major problem for us. It really sets up the infrastructure for the future of the fairgrounds. We have $400,000 budgeted for phase one of the project.

Q: How many people work for the fair organization?

A: We have a staff of five who work in the office, including me. We bring in seasonal help at the beginning of summer, including two people outside and two more office staff. At fair time there are over 200 volunteers who come in and provide the manpower needed to have a successful fair week.

Q: What new technologies or trends are developing in the fair industry?

A: We became a green facility in 2007. In the past, with all of the horse shows the bedding was going to waste really. But we contracted with Mid-Michigan Recycling, and they now haul off our wood byproduct bedding to Flint to be burned in an electrical generating plant. In the process we save a lot of money on our manure management. We are now spending a fraction of what we used to spend. We had money left over to purchase one of the giant vacuums, like the city leaf vacuums you see. I think being green is good for the environment but also for the budget pressures we face.

Q: What is next at the fairgrounds?

A: Construction Career Days on April 15 and 16. We will expose over 2,000 area high school students to the career opportunities in the construction industry. It’s sponsored by the Ingham Intermediate School District. Students will hear about apprentice programs, skilled trades, and get to do some hands-on things with heavy equipment. This will be the first event of its kind in Michigan.