Swift Current Ag & Ex reflects on 2019 at AGM
The Swift Current Agricultural and Exhibition Association (Ag & Ex) had a successful 2018 with various events and programs, but rising costs continued to present a challenge.
Details were provided at the non-profit organization’s annual meeting, Feb. 26. Board members presented the committee reports and spoke about the different activities hosted during the past year.
Expenses during 2018 were $57,155 higher than the total revenue of $773,648. Total expenses during the year were $830,803.
Bryce Burnett, the president of the 2018 board of directors, felt positive about the organization’s ability to deal with various challenges.
“The positive is we’ve got a lot of enthusiastic board members that are really passionate about what they are doing in their various parts of the Swift Current Ag & Ex,” he said after the meeting. “You heard the budget and we were down last year. We dug 10 per cent into our assets. So that isn’t a good thing. It’s a little bit tough, but I think that had to do a little bit with the entertainment.”
He felt crowd attendance at the grandstand entertainment during Frontiers Days can make a real difference to their revenue, and that played a role in last year’s financial results. He is looking forward to this year’s grandstand performances by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Colter Wall.
“I think we’ve got a real good draw this year and I think it will really help us this year,” he said. “You’ve got to remember we rely a lot on just four days and Mother Nature can sometimes put a little bit of a kink into it, and so we hope for good weather there and that we have a real good turnout, but when you’re just banking on four days for our main revenue, it’s a little bit tough.”
Another highlight for Burnett from 2018 was the new five-year contract agreement signed between the Ag & Ex and the City of Swift Current.
“We finally got our contract with the City,” he said. “We went through two years of putting on Frontier Days without having a contract with the City as to how we’re supposed to be planning our events.”
This contract will provide the Ag & Ex with more certainty, but at the same time it will have cost implications.
“With the contract we probably dropped about $20,000 a year that we’re going to have to increase our revenues, because the contract is going to cost us another $20,000 a year in order to put on our events,” he said. “So that isn’t a real positive thing. It’s something we’ll have to work forward on and something I mean is going to be a challenge. So I see a lot of challenges ahead, but once again we have some real capable people to pull these challenges out, and I think we’ll do that.”
Frontier Days is the main event hosted annually by the Ag & Ex, but he did not feel it is a realistic option to increase the gate admission as a means to increase revenue.
“The $5 gate admission has been a really good draw for us,” he said. “It gets the people in, and we hate to touch that too much, because it has been so positive for us and really increased our attendance. Once you get them into the grounds, then you can add a little bit on here and there, but putting the packages together with the grandstand entertainment, the rodeo and the gate admission has really helped us, because we know right off that you’ve got a good bunch of people coming, and the i-Ride passes have really been great too, because the kids buy those ahead of time.”
This year Frontier Days will take place from June 2629. He felt it might make a difference to attendance, because it takes place before Canada Day. There will also be an outdoor movie on a big screen in the grandstand on June 26, which might help to attract more attendance on the first day.
“I always say for years now, you look on the highway on July 1 and the ranchers and the farmers are bringing their camper trailers into the fairgrounds and the city people are taking their boats out to the lake, and that seems to be the way it goes,” he said. “This year we don’t have July 1 on the agenda. So we’re hoping that we can get the kids right out of school to this big screen TV and then the rest of the days push forth and with the entertainment that we’ve got coming we’ll miss that July 1.”
Finance Chair Stan Aikens presented the finance report during the meeting. He noted that their overall financial position remained solid. Their working capital and cash positions remained strong, and the association continued to carry only minimal liabilities.
“2018 was again a challenging year for the association financially as we had many areas where we saw increased costs for services and entertainment etc., which affected our ability to just break even on putting on these events,” he said.
The deficit of $57,155 was partly due to the $9,013 expense from the 2017 CCA Finals Rodeo 50/50 ticket payout and $23,093 for office renovations.
“Overall the net revenues from events this past year were similar to the previous year and were only down $3,990 overall for our events,” he said.
Frontier Days attendance in 2018 increased to over 26,000. The midway and the Frontier Days saloon both recorded improved profits.
“An area of concern was again with our grandstand entertainment, which resulted in losses in 2018 amounting to $28,192,” he said. “The cost to get these entertainers are continually going up.”
Aikens provided details about the Ag & Ex budget for 2019. Their total projected income for 2019 is $896,130. This is about $120,000 more than the actual income in 2018.
“Some of these areas that we are looking to increase profitability are from our admissions,” he said. “We anticipate that the entertainment packages that we put together for this coming year are going to draw more people through the gates. Entry fees and registrations, those also we anticipate will be up a little bit, and we anticipate that we're going to be able to get some extra sponsorship.”
The Ag & Ex is projecting an income of $811,730 for 2019, but total expenses of $822,435 will result in an anticipated deficit of $10,705. There were various highlights from the different reports that were presented during the annual meeting.
Doc’s Town had another successful year with good attendance at the various summer programs. A highlight for 2019 will be the centennial celebration of the McLatchie House on Aug. 4.
The 2018 Step into Spring Home and Leisure Show had over 70 exhibitors and it was well attended with about 3,800 visitors. The 2019 show takes place March 8-10 and the exhibitor space will again be full.
The 7th annual Discover the Farm, which included a poultry and exotic animal sale, attracted over 1,500 people. Educational presentations about safety and agriculture to school groups attracted 600 students from the Chinook School Division.
The Ranchman’s Ridin' and Recitin' took place in the fall and attracted over 1,000 visitors. There was a cattle pen show, ranch rodeo, heavy horse and stock dog events.
The 2nd annual Junior Stockman's Show was attended by about 60 youth from Alberta and Sask.