Thursday, May 11, 2017

The Wisconsin State Fair: Economics-on-a-stick

Hope Zimmermann
Mr. Reuter
Economics B1
7 May 2017

The Wisconsin State Fair: Economics-on-a-stick

Every year, thousands of people look forward to an eleven day event of food, animals, rides, and music. This year’s Wisconsin State Fair will take place August 3rd through the 13th and it can be said for certain that more than 1 million people will attend. Last year alone, the “Wisconsin State Fair saw 1,033,053 people come through its gates…” (Shafer). Every year there seems to be something new, like new and interesting foods on sticks or new entertainment events happening throughout the day. ““[The] Wisconsin State Fair has long been considered one of the top Fairs in the United States by many measures, and achieving attendance over one million two years in a row solidifies this even more,” stated Rick Frenette, chief executive officer of Wisconsin State Fair Park,” (Delong).  When looking at the graphs below, Wisconsin’s fair attendance (the purple line) has been increasing greatly. With attendance on the rise, the revenue of the fair is also increasing.
According to the fair’s CEO, Rick Frenette, “The economic impact of a fair our size is over $35M just in this 11 days,” (Langemo). With people all around Wisconsin traveling to the fair, the economy of West Allis gains a great profit. All of the sales tax that is generated at the fair is estimated to be $3 million alone, and all of the money goes back to the state of Wisconsin (Wickman). Along with all of this money going back in Wisconsin's economy, the fair also helps improve the surrounding area’s unemployment. “Approximately 1,800 employees work at the fair during its run,” (Wickman).
Another big thing that people look forward to at the Wisconsin State Fair is the food. In these eleven days, fairgoers consume an unbelievable amount of fried food, but who can blame them. Every year there seems to be another new food on a stick for them to try. Advertising and bringing new foods to the fair is a great marketing strategy, because people really want to try the new chocolate covered bacon on a stick or the new deep-fried ol’ fashion. This demand of new foods alone beings thousands of people to the park and it “... generates more than $50 billion in economic activity yearly in Wisconsin,” (Delong). With people demanding so much of this food, the supply is sometimes limited, but in 2014, the fair was prepared for this flood of people wanting the newest and best fried foods. “The Wisconsin Bakers Association sold a record-breaking 400,678 Original Cream Puffs, Arctic Glacier supplied [the] vendors with over 579,920 lbs. Of ice and Catalano’s used 28,000 lemons to serve their refreshing lemonade to thirsty Fairgoers,” (Delong). Farmers and businesses in the area needed to supply the fair with these goods in order to serve the hungry fairgoers. This too helped boost Wisconsin’s economy.
Through all of the entertainment, food, and carnival rides, the Wisconsin State Fair does many things for fairgoers and the community. It not only gives back to the state, but it gives back to the community in so many ways.



Works Cited
Delong, Katie. “State Fair 2014 ‘another one for the record books’ — so how many people attended?” Fox 6 NOW, 11 Aug. 2014, http://fox6now.com/2014/08/11/state-fair-2014-another-one-for-the-record-books-so-how-many-people-attended/
Langemo, Laura. “‘It really brings our state together:’  Gov. Walker, Mayor Barrett open 2015 Wisconsin State Fair.” Fox 6 NOW, 6 Aug. 2015, http://fox6now.com/2015/08/06/it-really-brings-our-state-together-wisconsin-state-fair-kicks-off-for-2015-season/.
Shafer, Dan. “Wisconsin State Fair attendance tops 1 million.” Milwaukee Business Journal, 16 Aug. 2016, http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2016/08/16/wisconsin-state-fair-attendancetops-1-million.html.
Wickman, Natalie. “Wisconsin State Fair opened to record-setting crowd: Slideshow.” Milwaukee Business Journal, 10 Aug. 2016, http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2015/08/10/wisconsin-state-fair-opened-to-record-setting.html.
Wirtz, Ron. “People-on-a-stick: 2011 state fair attendance.” Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 21 Aug. 2011, http://minneapolisfed.typepad.com/roundup/2011/09/people-on-a-stick-2011-state-fair-attendance.html.
“Wisconsin State Fair.” Wisconsin State Fair, 2017, http://wistatefair.com/fair/.

21 comments:

  1. I would have thought that the fair revenue would decrease. The danger from rides and accidents that happen at fairs but It looks like the consumers don't care. It was also nice to see how much the fair helps with seasonal unemployment. The fair seems to really help Wisconsin's revenue with the rides and the food that brinks in a good chunk of the revenue. The fair also gives back $3 million which is great.

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  2. I find it interesting that the actual venue for the state fair park seems to be used throughout the year for many things besides just the 11 days for the actual fair. Beyond just the fair itself, the park fair must certainly bring in a lot of revenue due to tourism and general interest through out the whole year.It makes sense, because this helps maximize the profit and not miss out on certain times of the year in which a fair would normally not occur.

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  3. The economic benefits of the Wisconsin State Fair are amazing to both the vendors and to the Wisconsin economy. Also, the fair grounds are prime real estate for advertisers of all kinds. With the high number of people who are going to be exposed to them, many of them may end up buying their products, which adds even more to the national GDP. To set up all these rides, food stands, advertisements, etc, hundreds of workers are needed. This increases the over all employment in the area and helps the economy even further.

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  4. Also as time goes on, many new types of entertainment will come to the state fair possibly bring much more people to Wisconsin. Although the increasing amount of people may mean that security must increase as well over the years.

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  5. The State fair is one of Wisconsinites favorite venues that is not a sports team. It surprises me that we do not have more visitors a year but 1 million is still a huge number. It also surprises me that it only acquires around $30 million. I realize that isn't a small number but I expected it to be larger. This I would assume take into account selling spots for all the vendors. It would be interesting to see what the selling price for a spot is and the break-even point they need to make in order to make money. With only 11 days to sell and prices probably being pretty expensive it would be interesting. I don't think many businesses with vendors would have trouble making a large profit with high prices but it would also be interesting to see how they price their products.

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  6. I found it interesting that the economic impact was about $35 million dollars for the million people that attended. Those numbers indicate that each person who attends approximately has a $35 dollar impact at least, and that's not counting the money that goes to sales tax, paying the carnival workers and the other uses that the money goes towards. With that in mind, as the attendance to the fair continues to increase that means the economic impact will continue to increase as more and more people spend money at the fair to buy all of the precious treats that are served.

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  7. I find it interesting that every year more people go to state fair. But to support that increase every year, the fair needs to bring in new items such as how you said, different foods on a stick. Except I think that it might also just be that families like going to state fair in order to have a good time. Plus, August is a month where all the summer activities are winding down, and kids are starting to get bored. State fair is the perfect place to get food that you don't normally eat, and can spend time with your friends and family.

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  8. The Wisconsin State Fair not only brings money in from the people in the Wisconsin but also nearby states, especially Illinois. Also during this time there are more job opportunities for people living nearby although it is only temporary. This may help some families earn some extra money if they feel like they need it. Overall the state fair helps Milwaukee since it helps build the economy by making a lot more money and is also a fun event for people nearby to enjoy.

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  9. Wisconsin State Fair is definitely one of my favorites in the summer. I think it would be interesting to find a stat about how much money gets spent on rides vs food. I definitely think rides has taken a backseat to food. The food is just really good there and is a good source of the fairs revenue according to the stats you included. Also, I do think that the revenue will keep increasing as more and more people come to visit and try the foods that Wisconsin has to offer.

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  10. Its crazy to think how much money the Wisconsin State Fair makes in just 13 days of being opened. I think it's such a cool thing that all of us look forward to every year that we don't even think about how much money we are really spending, a little here and a little there. I think even without having new things every year it would still continue to raise a lot of money because it is a seasonal event and we only have 13 days to go. The variety of food, music, games, and more makes it worth the trip.

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  11. I find it very surprising and interesting that the State Fair has a larger turn out every year. In my opinion, it makes sense that the Summerfest turnout would get bigger every year, since the lineup changes each year, but since many aspects of the State Fair (the animals, the rides, the foods, the games) stay the same year after year, I am surprised that more and more people still come since it is very similar every time you go. However, for many, State Fair is coveted, and the food, animals and ride are worth the opportunity cost of paying for tickets every year. Many look forward to the deep fried Oreos and delicious cream puffs, as well as petting and anging out with many different farm animals. However, I am a little surprised that the fair generates $30 million. Personally, my family does not choose to go to the State Fair each year, so I suppose I didn't quite realize how popular it was. Reading this post made me excited though, and I am hoping to return back this year to join in all the festivities and fun aspects of the park that you mentioned!

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  12. I had no idea that the state fair was growing i thought it was dying out slowly. and that it brings in 35 million dollars. The state fair I thought wasnt as popular as Summerfest. But just the fact that more than a million people go to state fair. I wanna know how much food is sold during the 11 days.

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  13. My family and I go to the State Fair every year, and after reading this I never really considered the huge impact it has on Wisconsin's economy. The amount of revenue that they make is way beyond what I thought it would ever be, $35 million in 11 days is crazy! Another statistic that I found unbelievable was how much lemons are used to create the fresh lemonade, which is one of my favorite things. Overall the fair is a great time and a great economy booster.

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  14. The Wisconsin State Fair has always been an immensely large and entertaining event. People from all over the state come for just one day at this spectacle, and who can blame them? Between amazing entertainment, fun rides, and delicious foods, the event is truly something to see. I have fond memories of the State Fair and the many activities it provides -- most notably eating their legendary corn dogs -- and I know I am not alone in this respect. With all the love that the State Fair gets considered, it is no shock that the occurrence does so well economically.

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  15. The amount of revenue that companies would bring in is huge. It is very popular in Wisconsin and helps promote businesses. It also as said helps the economy by the huge amount of money people spend at the fair.

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  17. As someone who stays on the state fair grounds 24/7 during the fair with animals, I can also add that the animals and education through the fair add to the economy. Families with young kids love to come through the barns and show them what their state is all about and introduce them to things that they would never see in their suburban neighborhood. With activities such as the Wisconsin House of Moo and Milking demonstrations it allows people to appreciate farmers and change their opinions of animal products and treatment. Along with the food, the Wisconsin Products Building helps people learn about locally grown and made products. People love discovering foods that local farmers grow and produce. Although the food and rides are great for creating jobs and interest, the agricultural aspects and 4-H displays help to work towards a brighter economy for Wisconsin in the future.

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  18. I can see how the State Fair brings in so much money to West Allis and the state as a whole. With all of the different promotions they do for their new food each year, it helps to ensure that people keep coming back and talking about the fair. Also, they have enough attractions to attract all different ages, shopping for adults, rides for kids, food and entertainment for family. The revenue the fair brings to these businesses is also enough to keep the tenders coming back each year to promote their new food, clothes, gadgets and more. It is not surprise that the fair is so successful with their economics.

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  19. Over the summer, fairs always excite people and have large turn outs. While I know that the Wisconsin State Fair especially brings in a ton of revenue and provides many jobs, I never knew truly how much money the fair brought in! Aside from the workers and owner of the fair grounds, those who live near the park earn a little extra cash during these 11 days, too. While I'm sure it would be difficult to attain legit numbers, providing data of how much neighbors of the park earn when renting out parking spots would be an interesting contribution to the article!

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  20. State fair is a very family friendly place so I can understand why it constantly brings in a good amount of revenue each year. Even at the age of 18 I try to go to state fair at least one of the days it is open. I wonder how much money is spent on food alone in the state fair grounds. For me, the food is the single factor that keeps me wanting to come back. I don’t know how attractive the Wisconsin state fair is to people that don’t actually live in Wisconsin. It’s not like a Summer fest type deal where there are big name performers that may not being going on tour soon.

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