State Fair president prepares to lead event into new arena

Curry Roberts wasn't looking to run the State Fair of Virginia when the job came open. But then-State Fair President Otis Brown, who was about to retire, encouraged Roberts to apply.

Brown told him the fair was set to buy Meadow Farm, the well-known estate in southern Caroline County that was home to Triple Crown winner Secretariat, for the State Fair's future home.

Roberts went to see the property and liked what he saw.

"It just intrigued me," Roberts said.

"It was such a wonderful property from a historic standpoint. . . . It's a more pastoral, parklike setting," said Roberts, who was then the CEO of the parent company of PM Beef Group, a meat-processing company based in Minnesota whose primary stockholder is billionaire John Kluge. Kluge owns Morven Farms near Charlottesville, where Roberts was chief operating officer for eight years before going to work for PM Beef.

Roberts became the State Fair's president and chief executive in 2004. And he is overseeing construction of the $81 million first phase of the Meadow Event Park, which is expected to debut this September.

"I don't think we could have picked anybody better for the job," said State Fair board Chairman John B. "Jay" Adams.

"He's surrounded himself with good people, and he's a consensus builder rather than a micromanager," said Adams, the president and CEO of A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg.

Adams said Roberts brought to the job strong agricultural ties, a solid background in finance and political connections.

Roberts has worked on various political campaigns, including those of former Democratic Gov. Gerald Baliles, who named Roberts secretary of economic development in 1986.

"I hired him for my first campaign," Baliles said.

At the time, Roberts was 23 and just out of Virginia Tech with a degree in political science. "He was then, as he is now, a very effective organizer of details," Baliles said.

He credits him with numerous successes during his four years as secretary of economic development, including the creation of more than 400,000 jobs and a sharp increase in foreign investment that had more than 100 overseas companies locate or expand in Virginia.

"I think whatever I saw in him then still exists today," said Baliles, who is now director at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

Like Adams, Baliles cites Roberts' connections as a key to his success at the fair.

"He has deep friendships on both sides of the political aisle," Baliles said.

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Roberts, 51, looks across the 360-acre expanse that he expects to be teeming with thousands of visitors when the State Fair of Virginia makes its Caroline debut in four months.

For now, he sees heavy graders pushing dirt, rollers smoothing asphalt and a smattering of exhibit buildings and horse stables rising from the muddy soil.

The State Fair opening on Sept. 24 is drawing near, but it has been a long time coming for Roberts and the two dozen staffers who work for him.

Roberts said there is no doubt the fair will open in Caroline this year.

"We're on schedule and on budget, and we walked away from our option at [Richmond International Raceway] last year," he said.

The move started long before Roberts joined the fair.

The State Fair sold its property on Laburnum Avenue in Henrico County in 1999 to the owners of the Richmond International Raceway for $47 million. A location near Interstates 64 and 295 in eastern Henrico was initially picked, but fair officials backed away from it in 2002 and began to explore other sites.

In 2003, the fair bought Meadow Farm for $5.3 million.

"This allowed us to put together a new setting that was more authentic to our mission," Roberts said.

The Meadow Event Park has been a massive undertaking, requiring infrastructure that could support a small city.

It will have a sewage-treatment plant on site. Two large water tanks are in their final stages of construction. More than 330 towering light poles dot the landscape.

There are two concrete pedestrian tunnels, including one under state Route 30 connecting the parking area and horse exhibits on the south side of the road to the midway, livestock and exhibit buildings on the north.

Roberts' ability to maneuver government pathways was helpful in dealing with two counties on utilities for the project. Hanover County is supplying water and sewer to Caroline for the fair's use.

Caroline Administrator Percy Ashcraft gives Roberts high marks.

"He was always thorough in his dealings with us, very honest, no hidden agendas," Ashcraft said. "I wish there were more Curry Robertses that I dealt with. The ins and outs of government would work a lot better."

. . .

At a salary of $210,000 a year, Roberts said he took a significant pay cut to become president and CEO of the State Fair.

But he said he doesn't feel underpaid, because he loves what he's doing and believes in the fair's mission of educating people about farm life, promoting the arts and offering scholarship opportunities for youths.

One thing he said he has pushed is making the fair less commercial and more Virginian. "If you're bringing something in from outside, you ask, 'Is there somewhere we can get this in Virginia?'"

The State Fair of Virginia is a not-for-profit company with an annual budget of $8 million that is generated from its three big events -- the fair, the Highland Games and Celtic Festival, and the Strawberry Hill Races.

The fair also generates money from sponsorships and private philanthropy, but it does not receive any government funding.

Roberts said managing the fair is not that different from managing a for-profit company. It's the same business disciplines of managing and budgeting.

The fair soon will be back in the facilities rental business, which it hasn't been able to do since selling its property off Laburnum Avenue in Henrico. It will lease space for events as large as auto shows and as small as weddings, Roberts said.

Fair attendance has increased significantly since he has been on the job. Average annual attendance for the past five years has been 252,000, up from the previous five years when attendance averaged slightly less than 230,000.

Roberts attributes much of that to a change in admissions. For years, customers had to buy a ticket that lumped in rides with the admission price. That was changed shortly after Roberts joined the fair, and now customers can buy a cheaper, admissions-only ticket.

He is cautiously optimistic about this year's attendance.

He said there are two schools of thought, one being that lots of people will come to see the new location; the other being that it will take awhile to build up the numbers.

"I think the truth is somewhere in between," Roberts said. "Ask me after Oct. 4th."

Projections for five years out are for annual attendance to rise to about 325,000, he said. One reason, he says, is that the fair is moving from a site where the population in its 60-mile radius is 1.6 million to one that will be 2.3 million.

The state fair also faces other issues, including a challenge from Universal Fairs, a Tennessee company that announced plans to hold a weeklong fair at the raceway complex this summer and call it the Richmond State Fair.

State Fair of Virginia officials immediately filed suit challenging use of the name and logo, and attorneys have said a settlement is being worked out. Roberts said he can't talk about it.

Another possible issue, Roberts said, is the recession. "I don't think we're immune from the general economy."

For instance, attendance at this year's Strawberry Hill Races last month was off about 10 percent.

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One of the things Roberts finds most difficult about managing the fair is remaining patient.

"You'd always like things to go faster," he said. "You have to make sure you don't overreach. . . . It's not my fair; it takes thousands of people. It's not always exactly how I would like."

So, how does he sum up his business philosophy?

"Everything is a team effort. The superstar CEO is not something I've ever thought should be emulated."