The Nebraska State Fair Board of Directors has turned to a fair industry veteran as its choice for its next executive director.
The board Friday voted to hire Bill Ogg to fill a position that has been vacant for nearly two months after previous director Lori Cox stepped down in March. Jaime Parr, the fair's director of sales, has been working as interim director.
Ogg has nearly 40 years of experience in fair management and is currently general manager of the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days in Washington state. He was a finalist for the Nebraska job three years ago.
Ogg was described as a "fixer" who has experience taking over financially troubled fairs and turning them around.
He himself said he was a "capable fixer" in response to a question from board member Jeremy Jensen about why board members should hire him now when they are still paying a salary to Cox and don't know if they are even going to have a fair this year.
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Ogg also said that whoever the board hires, it should do so as soon as possible, because planning for future fairs needs to be happening now.
"The fair of 2021 is as important right now as the fair of 2020," he said.
Ogg's hiring did not go off as smoothly as some board members might have hoped.
Board Chairwoman Beth Smith of Lincoln had proposed approving him as the new executive director and working out contract details later, but Jensen objected to that, calling it "extremely jacked up procedurally" to not have a contract in place to vote on along with Ogg's appointment.
Smith said she wanted to give the board a chance to meet Ogg in open session and ask questions while at the same time keeping the process moving forward.
The board eventually compromised, unanimously voting for Ogg's appointment as executive director with the understanding that it would still have a chance to vote on his contract at either a special meeting or next month's regularly scheduled meeting.
Ogg is a Wyoming native who got his start at the Wyoming State Fair. He also has served in leadership roles at fairs in Montana, Colorado and Kansas.
When Ogg took over as director of the Greeley Stampede in Colorado in 2009, the event had endured three straight years of six-digit losses. He said the fair was more than $1 million in debt and had no assets.
Ogg helped to turn the event around, in part by instituting a gate fee for the first time in its history, a move that wasn't necessarily popular.
In Walla Walla, the fair's carnival receipts grew 11% from 2017-2019, and it also saw increases in concession and beverage sales, rodeo ticket sales and sponsorship revenue.
His tenures have not always been successful, however. In 2002, Ogg resigned as head of the Kansas State Fair after being accused of taking materials from demolished buildings without permission.
According to media reports, Ogg said he took horse barn gates and let a friend take lumber from demolished buildings because he thought the material was going to a landfill. He said he was unaware that a local contractor had made a deal to take the material.
The Nebraska State Fair has seen back-to-back annual losses, including more than $1 million from the 2019 fair after heavy rains led to a 10% drop in attendance and a 12% drop in gate revenue.
Cox, who has been the executive director since January 2018, took a medical leave of absence in mid-March, citing the stress of the job.
Between November and March, the fair's chief of finance resigned and said the fair was facing bankruptcy, the organization had to lay off nearly half its staff and the State Patrol began an investigation of potential financial irregularities.
Cox was not accused of any wrongdoing and in fact brought evidence of the potential financial issues to the board. She is working as a consultant to the fair through the end of the year.
The board also took out a line of credit with a local bank to shore up its finances, but Parr said Friday that the fair will use its most recent share of state lottery proceeds to pay off that line.
In a statement, Ogg said he's "eager to begin working on behalf of all Nebraskans."
"In addition to monitoring the current environment as it relates to the pandemic and the 2020 State Fair, I intend to research the budget in depth and will strive for transparent communication," he said. "It is humbling to be asked to serve as the executive director of the Nebraska State Fair. I promise to respect the wholesome traditions."
The board also Friday said it is still planning to hold a fair this summer but also is working on contingency plans that put the health and safety of workers, volunteers and attendees at the forefront.
Smith said that while the board wants to see the fair happen, "It most likely will not look like the fair has always looked."
Numerous county fairs in Nebraska have canceled events such as carnivals and are having only ag-related events such as livestock shows. North Dakota recently canceled its state fair.