GREENFIELD — Company names are displayed across the Hancock County Fairgrounds this week, on pages throughout the fair’s handbook and even on the sorting panels used to direct hogs during last weekend’s swine shows.
Those business’ monikers are in plain view, but their dollars and efforts are behind the scenes making the annual week of festivities possible. They represent organizers’ work toward funding the fair — an endeavor they hope to see grow in the future.
Josh Phares, Hancock County 4-H Ag Association president, estimates sponsors contribute about $30,000 to the fair.
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This year’s presenting sponsor is Inskeep Ford. NineStar Connect, Elanco and Hancock Health are other big backers, Phares said.
“They’re more than happy to help because it’s good promotion for them and they know it’s going to a great cause,” he said. “Anything that goes here is always going to help the kids out and the kids are always at the forefront of anything that we do.”
Sponsors allow fair organizers to fill the week’s schedule with several events, like this year’s circus, donkey races, Silly Safari and petting zoo. While two nights of rodeo were on the schedule, the cowboys had to be canceled due to weather. Those events totaled more than $25,000, although only a portion of the rodeo rate was owed when the cancellation was announced with enough notice.
Then there are other mounting costs, Phares said, like the $1,100 required to erect a fence between the fairgrounds and roadway and a sweeper to spruce up the property’s pavement, which cost about another $1,100.
Phares sat in the driver’s seat of one of the utility vehicles that Koenig Equipment contributed for fair workers to traverse the fairgrounds. The company also sponsored the fair’s show arena.
Andy Isch, ag sales territory manager in Greenfield for Koenig, called sponsoring the fair a natural way for the company to partner with its customers and area residents.
“It’s a tangible reinforcement of our commitment to the local community and that we’re not just a large corporate entity that’s owned in Ohio, but we are a dealership made up of local folks that have local interests and we support our local community,” he said. “It allows us the opportunity to be more involved with the agricultural community, our current customers and our customers of tomorrow.”
Hancock Health sponsored the fair’s parade and baby contest. NineStar Connect backed the queen contest, awarded a $4,500 grant for several hundred new chairs and donated its time to install the fairgrounds’ WiFi system and new lighting at the 4-H Bowl.
Elanco and Vectren employees also carried out renovation and restoration projects at the 4-H Bowl, which hosts fair events like a talent show and fashion show.
Natalie Hedde, director of communications for the Midwest at Vectren, said the sustainability of the communities the company provides natural gas to and in which its employees live and work is one of the company’s core foundation principles.
“We absolutely have a responsibility to volunteer in the communities we serve,” Hedde said.
Phares said fair organizers spend much of the year soliciting sponsors. They start hitting efforts pretty heavy at the beginning of each year, he continued, and even heavier come May.
There are plenty of companies throughout Hancock County that organizers have yet to seek sponsorship from, a gap they hope to fill in the future, Phares said.
Organizers have also spoken with a marketing representative with the Indiana FFA and plan on meeting with her again in the future to get advice on further improving fair sponsorship.
“It’s amazing, when you actually look at the numbers, what it costs to put this on,” Phares said.
