BUSINESS
THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MARCH 20, 2022
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Chandler events firm bouncing back from shutdown BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
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obb Corwin remembers the date everything changed. “March 13 was doomsday,” Corwin said, recalling the 2020 directive closing businesses his to shut down because of the pandemic. As chief executive officer for Forty8 Live, a Chandler-based events company that put on the Cajun Festival last month, he said the shutdown “was excruciating. “And, and that doesn’t come close to describing how hard it was,” Corwin said. “It was probably the hardest two weeks of my 35 years of being in business.” Corwin said the shutdown order hit them hard. “We had multiple events going that day, we were opening gates,” he said. “Laying people off, not knowing what was coming, trying to figure out how I was going to take care of all our employees … that was hard. “Thank God events are back.” And so is Corwin’s company, which had been the HDE Agency until this year. Corwin acquired HDE Agency in 2018 and decided to change the focus this year, renaming his company Forty8 Live with a goal of producing 12 big events in 2022. He said the new name reflects a focus on the nation’s 48th state, but its events won’t limited by that since there are plans to produce events nationally. Firty8 Live bills itself as a “national event company that provides turn-key solutions for start-up concepts to the well-established branded clients” and “creates, books, produces, and markets live events from festivals, concerts and civic celebrations to corporate events and private themed special events. “Our goal is to produce signature events that produce a significant economic impact in the community, create a memorable experience for the attendees and deliver results that exceed expec-
Left: Last month’s Cajun Festival in downtown Chandler was organized by Forty8 Live, a Chandler promotion company. Right: Forty8 Live’s recreation of Bourbon Street in New Orleans was a special addition to the Cajun Fest in downtown Chandler. (Special to the Arizonan )
tations for our partners,” it says on its website. Corwin said he knows the pandemic hasn’t completely gone away and that his company is doing everything it can to protect people at their events. “We space things out – more spatial awareness,” he said. “We space out our lines, have glass between the ticket takers, and we sanitize the whole space, and our disinfectant lasts for days. “There’s a lot that goes into COVID protocols that we’ve never had to experience before,” Corwin said. “It’s expensive, but it’s a necessary thing we have to do to make people feel comfortable going out.” Corwin is also CEO of the Pride Group, another events business. He said he has
started dozens of companies. He said one thing of Forty8 Live’s specialities is staging successful events. “We figure out how to make it profitable, that’s what we’re all about,” Corwin said. “We book talent, book entertainment, we come up with themes. And we end early, so we can help out other businesses in the area. So he expected after the Cajun Festival ended people would fill up the bars and restaurants in downtown Chandler. The theme for the Cajun Festival had a very New Orleans feel. Guests entered by walking down Bourbon Street and there were people on top tossing beads down to everyone. “We hope events like this will embed us in.”
Upcoming Forty8 Live events are the KNIX Barbecue and Beer festival in downtown Chandler on March 26, the Great American BBQ throw down in Surprise in April and the Rockin’ Taco Street Fest in September. The company will also put on Oktoberfest for Gilbert in October.
