By Christina A. Inslee
President, Champlain Valley Exposition
& David F. Grimm, CFE
General Manager, Champlain Valley Exposition

The Champlain Valley Exposition is a good neighbor to the people of Essex Junction. We work diligently on quality of life issues, we support local businesses and we serve a wide community of special interests with the events held at the Exposition.
There are some in Essex Junction who feel otherwise and question the Exposition’s role and benefit to Essex Junction. That seems to be at the heart of Peter Hunt’s petition drive calling for the Trustees of the Village to pursue receiving money from the Champlain Valley Exposition.
Champlain Valley Exposition has an exemption from property tax granted by the Vermont State Legislature, of which Mr. Hunt is a member. It is the same exemption granted to all agricultural societies in Vermont that own land and hold an annual fair on their grounds. It is similar to the public good property tax exemption for churches, hospitals, museums, theaters and educational institutions.

Clearly, a majority of our elected representatives in Montpelier recognize the importance of Vermont’s heritage and the rich traditions associated with fairs in celebrating Vermont’s agricultural community. Legislators support Vermont’s fairs with an annual appropriation and provide funds for capital project grants to encourage fairs to modernize their facilities.
The Exposition has been home to the Champlain Valley Fair since 1922 and it has since grown to be the state’s largest annual agricultural event. In 2006, it was named the top agricultural fair in America by the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. It is the only Vermont event included on the 2007 and 2008 Top 100 Events in America list issued annually by the American Bus Association.
The Exposition is governed by a volunteer 15-member Board of Directors who ensure the organization is meeting its mission to serve the people of the Champlain Valley and Vermont by promoting agriculture, education, commerce and entertainment.
Millions of people have come through our gates to enjoy the Fair, stroll through a trade show, enjoy a concert, celebrate July Fourth, play indoor soccer, attend a community forum or search for a bargain at a flea market or sale.
Countless Essex Junction residents come here to walk their dogs, ride bikes, learn to drive, chip golf balls, cross-country ski, or simply enjoy the spectacular view of Mt. Mansfield over the Willey’s landmark red barn.

A Unique Organization
We are a unique organization and one whose ultimate success is dependent on community support, weather, and popular consumer interests.
Its tangible economic impact on local businesses is best highlighted when The Airstream Rally, BMW International Motorcycle Rally, NSRA hot rods, Vermont Quilt Festival or other such events come to Essex Junction.
Local businesses often see a dramatic spike in sales and demand for services from attendees, vendors and support staff. The economic ripple may continue for days as visitors tour the state, spend money on services and put millions of dollars into the tax coffers. Sales tax is collected whenever boats, modular homes, recreational vehicles, arts and crafts items, and sporting equipment are sold at the Exposition shows.
The Exposition is a major employer in Essex Junction with wage and personnel expenses totaling $1,259,853 in 2006. It employs a dozen full-time employees, 30 part-time employees and up to 400 employees during the Fair. Many of these jobs help students pay for college and make the difference for families and individuals on limited incomes.
Operating costs for the Exposition’s entertainment contracts, wages, special events, utilities and maintenance increase annually. In 2006, the Exposition finished with a deficit of $119,791; in 2005, the Exposition’s revenue was only $7,875. Thanks to some great weather and a fiscally-conservative approach to spending, we may break even this year.
The Exposition contributes to Essex Junction and gives back to the community in many ways:
Working with the Village
• In 2005, the Exposition paid $12,839 for a Village feasibility study to redesign and upgrade the Route 15 corridor (Pearl Street) approaching Five Corners. The Exposition also contributed $2,500 to a Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Committee Route 15 Corridor Study in 2006.
• In July of 2001, CVE’s Board appropriated $10,000 to the Village to help Essex Junction pay for a $35,000 economic revitalization study.
• The Exposition and event promoters pay Essex Police and other area officers more than $60,000 annually in wages, benefits and uniforms for traffic control and additional patrol time during events. It costs the Exposition about $15,000 for its First Response on-site medical emergency team during events. This greatly reduces the strain on local emergency services and keeps them available for service to the community at large.
• At the urging of the Village, CVE created a new entrance on Route 2A and built a paved road on the Exposition grounds designed to bring traffic off Routes 15 and 2A and alleviate traffic congestion.
• The Exposition pays for all required permits, banners, water and sewer usage and other additional services needed due to an event. We pay property taxes on an adjacent residential property owned by the Exposition for an annual total expenditure of $30,322.
• Our facilities and grounds continue to be available for police and firefighter training exercises, graduations, military send-off ceremonies, parades, community meetings and events.

A Community Partner
• Civic organizations such as Essex Rotary, Essex Junction Lions Club, Burlington Elks Club, Chittenden County Maple Producers, the Shriners and the Chittenden County Dairy Association all raise money for their programs through food sales at Exposition events and during the Fair - which provides the largest opportunity for fundraising for many of these groups.
• The Exposition, Fair and other events provide hundreds of admission tickets (total value approximately $10,000) to local non-profit organizations for use by clients or for fund-raising. The Expo also offers reduced rental fees on meeting space and equipment to non-profit organizations.
• Partnerships, in-kind donations (valued at $65,000 annually), and other support from the Exposition allow local non-profit organizations to raise more than $700,000 for their charitable organizations at the Exposition. Among the organizations who count on the Exposition: The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, Red Cross Blood Services, Shriners Bingo, “Evening Song” to benefit cancer patients and research, Visiting Nurse Association, Linking Learning to Life’s Community Tag Sale, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Auction, Nordic Spirit and Far Post Soccer Clubs, University of Vermont Extension and 4-H.
• The Exposition pays about $20,000 in support of educational programs to area students. More than 1,100 children, parents and teachers participated in a free school field trip to the Fair this year. Volunteers serve as agricultural ambassadors for the class trips.
• The Exposition pays for the summer “Read and Win a Day at the Fair” reading program available at all Vermont libraries for approximately 2,000 elementary students.
• The Exposition awards $3,200 in annual scholarships to college-bound students involved in 4-H agricultural programs and engineering.

Investing in the Future
One of the reasons we can respond to the array of needs in the community is the addition of the Robert E. Miller Expo Centre. It allows us to attract many events that would have been impossible to host in Vermont because of the lack of another event center like it in the state. It was built with the generous support of developer and builder Robert “Bobby” Miller and is supported with the help of community and business partners like Nordic Spirit and Far Post Soccer Clubs.
To attract national RV rallies to Vermont and Essex Junction, the Exposition made a major investment to expand the electrical and water hook-up camping infrastructure to serve hundreds of RVs and motor homes.

Agricultural Focus
In keeping with the long-standing agricultural focus of the organization, its master plan for future development includes building “ACRES” – the Agricultural Community Research and Environmental Science Center – designed to bring together CVE’s barns, livestock arenas, show rings, meeting and classrooms, gardens and permanent exhibits in one area. We see it having a focus on 21st Century agricultural practices in a state-of-the art facility akin to the ECHO Science Center on Burlington’s Waterfront. As part of ACRES, we want to put a fresh face on the Expo’s Pearl Street pedestrian and vehicle entrances.
The Exposition itself has an operating budget of about $5.6 million annually, with a majority of that going towards the Fair. The Expo’s activity multiplies and expands to tens of millions of dollars as it brings new people to Vermont and spurs the sale of services, necessities and big-ticket items and adds to the tax coffers.
The Expo’s board and staff strive to generate additional revenues to our organization in order to be competitive, grow and serve emerging needs.
It’s also important to note that rental fees and revenues from other events also help support the Champlain Valley Fair.

Focus on the Real Issue
A recent petition urges the Village Trustees to pursue a “payment in lieu of property taxes,” “a fee for service agreement” or “some other way” for the Exposition to “pay its fair share,” to alleviate the wear on the roads and inconvenience to nearby residents.
What is clearly missing from the petition’s logic and the recent string of letters to the editor in newspapers is the acknowledgment of the economic benefits Essex Junction and the region already receives from the Exposition.
It stings when some people claim we are not a good neighbor or that we get “a free ride.” We are proud of our strong role in Essex Junction and feel there are many others in our community who would agree.
The Exposition’s Executive Committee met with representatives of the Village of Essex Junction on Oct. 15 to hear the concerns residents presented at the Trustees’ meeting.
Essex Junction’s current tax crisis was not created overnight, nor will its solution be found quickly.
We want to emphasize that Champlain Valley Exposition, though highly visible and physically larger than most other non-profits in the Village or even the Lake Champlain Valley region, does not have the capacity – or the financial resources – to solve Essex Junction’s property tax crisis.
It is our sincere hope that a similar drive and expenditure of community energy will be directed toward village, town and state legislators by Essex Junction residents urging them to find the most viable solution to Vermont’s significant property tax crisis – one that is fair and equitable for all and doesn’t end up turning good neighbors against each other.
Meanwhile, the Exposition will continue to be a vital member of the Essex Junction community and continue to strive for new ways to be an even better neighbor.