Fair board, manager to part company

Tom Musser: He’ll stay on job through this year

The Clark County Fair is looking for a new manager.

Tom Musser, who helped turn a money-losing operation into a profitable enterprise, will leave at the end of the year.

Musser said Thursday afternoon that the move was requested by the Clark County Fair Association’s board.

“I was informed Monday night. I was told they were looking for a fresh, creative flair,“ Musser said. “So, basically, it came from their end.”

Musser will stay on the job through the end of 2008, and will help in the transition, said Justin Kobluk, executive director of the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, which operates the fairgrounds.

“We’ve done a fair amount of background in terms of job descriptions, work charts. Next we’ll be putting together criteria for a search,” Kobluk said.

“I wish them well,” Musser said. “It’s a great fair. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done over 14 years. It’s a great fair and deserves the best. If creative spark makes it better, that’s great.”

Musser said the fair had a $4.7 million deficit when he came here 14 years ago from California. Kobluk credited Musser with guiding the 140-year-old institution through a major turnaround.

“He created a very successful community endeavor that has been a money-maker,” Kobluk said. “It is ranked No. 1 in the state for public fairs by the state fair commission, and there are 74 fairs in the state.”

Multiply that by 50 states, and, “The fair is a very big deal in a lot of communities,” Kobluk said. That should help Musser in the job market, although “Right now, there are no fair manager jobs open in the country,” Musser said.

This decision is the latest in a series of transitions in jobs, titles and operations at the site at 17404 N.E. Delfel Road.

About three years ago, Kobluk took over the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds.

“That’s what the fairgrounds has turned into: the exhibition hall, the year-round business, rather than just the fair,” Kobluk said. “The fair is a very big part of that, but it’s not the only thing.

“Two years ago, Tom became the fair manager, rather than the general manager,” Kobluk said.

Musser said that getting a new boss “took some getting used to. But I was in a position to work on the fair, instead of handling everything.”

The site’s management body has changed, too.

“It had been the Clark County Fair Association that ran the grounds,” Kobluk said. “Once we built the new year-round business that brings in a lot of tourism dollars, it’s not longer the fair association’s role to run the new ventures.

“The Fairgrounds Site Management Group was created by the county to run all events and venues on behalf of the county,” Kobluk said.

Musser said that his replacement will take over an operation that “is set up well for the future. I will miss the people who work there, and the volunteers who donated a tremendous amount of time to make it happen.

“I’d love to stay here,” said Musser, a Hazel Dell resident. “But there is only one job in the county that does this.”