Augusta Expo aims for new image to bring in more events
Laura Peters
FISHERSVILLE - Augusta Expo is trying for a new image. It's 50 years old, needs a bit of a makeover and a refresh.
For the past year new management at Augusta Expo has been bringing diverse events in an effort to gain more of a following for the event center. They're also trying to improve their customer appearance.
It's not super well-known that Augusta Expo is a nonprofit. It has an all-volunteer board and only six full-time employees, who are paid from the revenue the event hall makes.
"We're really here to help the community," Gammon Cross, Augusta Expo's manager, said.
Cross took over management a year ago. She said that the common misconception about Augusta Expo is that it's not a nonprofit.
"We're supposed to be here for this area ... and we need community support," she said.
Cross said many people have told her they've been under the impression that Expo is privately owned and the board of directors makes money.
"The community really is behind us once they know why we're here," Cross said. "I've been asked several times will who owns Expo. Well, the community owns Expo."
Abbey Smith, a recently added board member, saw the potential at Expo when she moved from New Jersey to the Shenandoah Valley six years ago.
"I wanted to be a part of helping it realize its full potential," she said.
Augusta Expo is now in its 50th year and Cross said she's looking to have Expo as a place to provide more events and bring in more revenue to the area.
"We want to bring tourism to Augusta County and we want to bring a higher caliber of events to Augusta County ... anything that we can do to help our community thrive," she said. "Everything that we are going to be doing from here on forward is going to be focused solely on that."
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Smith said Gammon has stayed true to the agriculture concept that started Expo.
"We have a really engaged board, which is great to see a lot of really great people with a lot of really great ideas to help see that Expo is here for another 50 years," Smith said. "You know, looking at things and trying to come up with great solutions to ensure that it's still going to be here, and also making sure that the programs that we offer are what is necessary what our community really wants to see an experience."
The purpose in 1969 was to exhibit agriculture and industrial products from the Valley and educate the public about them, which Expo still does. The venue also wanted to host fair activities, athletic contests, shows and exhibitions, all of which Expo continues, but with more appeal to a broader audience.
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Serving as a venue for concerts, festivals, antique shows and other events, it also serves as the location for the Augusta County Fair, local auctions, animal shows and venue for meetings.
Expo also includes an almost 40,000-square-foot air-conditioned exhibition hall, barn space, a track and horse ring on the almost 160-acre site. After the exhibition hall was completed in 1972, the next addition came in 1979 with the Dick Coffey Pavilion for accommodating livestock shows and auctions.
This was followed by another exhibition hall, adding 6,000 square feet. Then another 12,000-square-foot building went up next to the pavilion.
Within the last year, the facility has seen a clean up and small repairs. Expo added footing to the horse arena and added a cross country jumping course.
Other improvements within the past year include:
- Repairing parts of the driveway
- Upgraded to high speed internet and phone systems
- New garage door and extensive repairs to others
- Replaced doors to the main hall
- Significant repairs to the roofs
- Upgrades to all the bathrooms toilet paper, paper towel and soap dispensers
- Installed LED lighting to conserve energy
Expo is also home to the Market Animal Show, once it outgrew its former home at the Staunton Union Stockyard four years ago. The organization wants to build two barns on the Augusta Expo Event Center lot: one 12,000-square-foot barn, and another 33,800-square-foot barn. The construction will cost about $1.5 million and received a $100,000 donation this past winter from Augusta Petroleum.
Annual revenue can range between $350,000 and $400,000, Cross said. In 2015, Expo saw $395,00 in revenue. It grew to $496,000 this year.
Employees are paid from that revenue and the nonprofit doesn't receive any government subsidies. They rely on event revenue and some sponsorships, but Cross said they don't get a lot of donations or sponsorships.
"It's not life changing kind of dollars and we need to kind of open up to the community, change our image, change the community's perspective on us and start to see if we can't get support in that direction," Cross said.
Expo also relies on membership money to come in, which is a $40 charge per member each year. Being a member means you can vote people on the board and free tickets or discounts.
So Cross is trying to bring in more events, shows and activities for the public to partake in. Last year, there were 89 events. This year it's up to 130.
Cross has brought in a lot more equine events, like the upcoming Shenandoah Valley Equine Fair starting Nov. 14. The three-day event includes vendor shows, clinicians, demonstrations and two nights of entertainment like True Grit Rodeo and the Magical World of Dancing Horses.
Every weekend has some sort of event — yard sales, music festivals, food truck battles, craft fairs and more.
For more information go to AugustaExpo.com.
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You can reach reporter Laura Peters at lpeters@newsleader.com. Follow her @peterslaura.