HARSH REALITIES Working to make the next 35 even better

By Elizabeth Harsh, Ohio Cattleman Editor

The 35th Ohio Beef Expo is March 16-19 at the Ohio Expo Center and OCA is looking forward to celebrating this milestone by hosting the best Expo to date! Before you start counting on your fingers, we’ll admit that technically the 35th Expo should have been 2022, but unfortunately the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event.

Last year’s Expo brought several changes and others are planned for this year. One of them is the mailing of the Expo show program along with the Expo issue of the Ohio Cattleman magazine. The combination of today’s mailing challenges, postage rates and paper costs require this change. The magazine will feature advertisements related to the Ohio Beef Expo, but Expo event details, etc. will be included in the show program and not duplicated in both.

In December Governor DeWine and the Expo 2050 Task Force released their Master Plan framework for the Ohio Expo Center and OCA shared the information. The master plan serves as the long-term strategic vision for the future of the Ohio Expo Center and Ohio State Fair. OCA has been asked to be involved in the process as the details of the plan are finalized including timelines, construction phases and cost estimates. Final construction plans must work around those annual events, foremost among them being the state fair, but also other major events, like the Ohio Beef Expo, that take place throughout the year.

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It is an exciting time for the Ohio Expo Center, for Ohio agriculture and ultimately for all Ohioans who will visit and benefit from the facility’s rebirth. Thank you to Governor DeWine, Expo Center General Manager Virgil Strickler and the members of the Ohio Expositions Commission, as well as the members of the General Assembly who are champions of this needed, but costly, undertaking. Ohio is fortunate to have leaders who love the fair and the Expo Center’s many other events that provide similar experiences while also sharing a vision of all that it can be in the future.

Some initial funding was secured in the legislature’s lame-duck session before the holidays. And the Governor’s recently released budget includes an additional $190 million over the two-year operating budget, but that is just the beginning of what it will take to make the Ohio Expo Center vision a reality. As the quote says, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well,” and in this case it also means investing well to build the future of the Ohio Expo Center.

OCA Staff

Elizabeth Harsh Executive Director

Ron Windnagel Director of Accounting & Operations

Luke McKee Manager of Member Services

Kelly Keirn Manager of Consumer Programs & Digital Marketing

Karigan Blue BEST Program Coordinator

Talking about plans for the Expo’s future and its 35th anniversary has me thinking about where the Ohio Beef Expo started in 1988. At the risk of calling some of you old, I will say historians will remember the Davey Beef Barn with it treacherous ramps and loading docks where the Expo first housed cattle. Even more memorable was the first semblance of a trade show that was held in what today is the putt putt area or historical front-end of the Voinovich building. No heat and a steel beam in the middle of each narrow booth created a less than ideal experience and makes one wonder how we ever got from that beginning to today’s trade show that is the envy of most.

It is a fact that the Ohio Beef Expo’s success in its 35 years is owed to the many volunteers, breeders, trade show exhibitors, sponsors and junior show families that have supported the event, some of which that have attended every year. In celebration of the anniversary, the Expo planning committee wants to recognize those individuals and companies that have participated for all 35 years. This recognition will take place on Friday morning in the trade show. Please let the OCA office know of any 35-year participants so no one is missed. We look forward to seeing you at this year’s Expo.