By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair generally pays its bills from the year to year proceeds of the event, but with no 2020 Fair, they're going to need some help.
"We're actually starting a Kansas Cares About the Fair campaign through the Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation," said Interim General Manager David Tobias. "We need support from our Fair friends and businesses to secure the future of the fair, for the generations to come."
The Kansas Legislature has not kept up its end of the bargain on maintenance of fair buildings in previous years, but it's not clear if they will give any support to the fair in the coming session.
"Most people love the fair, you know," Tobias said. "They want to give and they want to support it. It's in our community. It has a great economic impact. In a 60 mile radius of Hutchinson, it's a $40 million impact."
If the fair doesn't get either substantial gifts or state help, letting staff go either temporarily or permanently is on the table.
"We're definitely going to need additional funding to sustain our staff, to keep our staff," Tobias said. "That's something we all don't want. We don't want to let anybody go or have to furlough, but these are unprecedented times in the world and in Kansas. You know, we have to do what we have to do to keep a business alive."
The 2021 Kansas State Fair is scheduled for September 10-19.