NORTHAMPTON — After losing more than $1 million in revenue in 2020, the Three County Fair closed its office for the winter and furloughed most of its employees at the end of the year.
Because of the pandemic, the fair, the oldest continuously running agricultural fair in the country, wasn’t able to hold many events last year.
“We weren’t able to do a whole heck of a lot,” said James Przypek, the fair’s general manager. “We’ve had very little revenue opportunity for events.”
There were seven employees, and now Przypek is the only one still working for the organization, he said.
“Like the majority of businesses, 2020 has been a struggle and we have been cutting operational expenses since the shutdown,” Przypek wrote in a statement. “The organization would be out of money already if it weren’t for the original federal CARES Act, the fair’s vision to invest in a solar system more than eight years ago, (and) a prominent winter storage business, along with the generosity of many of our directors.”
Last spring, the organization received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, which Przypek described as a “blessing.” The loan has been used and forgiven, he said, and helped to keep the fair in business in 2020. The fair has received a second PPP loan.
“We are OK starting out 2021, but opening up the events in the spring is key,” he said.
Usually, in the winter, employees would be in the office working, Przypek said. They work on equipment maintenance, construction projects, planning for future events, and showing the fairgrounds to prospective renters, he said.
Although they are closed for winter, there are still bills to pay like loans and insurance. “You’re going to run out of money eventually,” Przypek said.
At the end of 2020, the fair was hoping that Congress would pass the Agricultural Fairs Rescue Act, which would have given grants to agricultural fairs that suffered losses due to the pandemic. Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, and Richard Neal, D-Springfield, were two of the bill’s 55 co-sponsors.
But, when the year ended, the congressional session ended and the bill must be reintroduced.
“The congressman looks forward to signing back onto and strongly supporting the bill once it is reintroduced,” a spokesperson for McGovern said in an email.
The fair was able to run some agricultural competitions this summer for its 203rd Three County Fair, but the events were closed to the public. Now, the fair has some horse shows planned for spring.
“Our first one is scheduled for April 22 through 25,” Przypek said. “We’re hoping again that we’re going to start seeing an easing of restrictions. It would help if the vaccine rollout was a bit quicker.”
Most years, the fair hosts about a dozen or more horse shows, he said. At the 2019 fair, the most recent one open to the public, the event drew just under 40,000 people.
Mayor David Narkewicz said he’s spoken with the fair about “if there are ways that we can give them some deferrals on certain payments to the city until they are able to get back on their feet, but we haven’t actually ironed that out.”
For example, the city cut its annual liquor license renewal fee by 25% this year, Narkewicz said, and the fairgrounds have a seasonal license that they may be able to defer payments on.
But, he added, “we’re concerned and the fair is obviously an iconic institution in the city.”
Przypek hopes to bring furloughed employees back in March. In addition to the seven year-round staff members, the fair usually hires 50 or 60 people for temporary jobs at large events, he said.
“I don’t want people to forget about us when it’s time to reopen,” Przypek said. “So much focus seems to be on the restaurant industry all these many months … There’s this whole other entertainment and hospitality sector that almost feels like it’s being ignored.”
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.