10/07/2026
We recently were visited by Andrea Peachey, Director of GI Expo, Events and Livestock at Fonner Park. In her role, she works with livestock shows, community events and large scale national events as venue host and mangement.
With buildings that can accomodate mulitple events in a week, having a great staff is vital during transitions. Knowing the amount of work it takes, and understanding the costs of operation, arriving at competetive pricing for a prospective client can be challenging. Advantages are that there aren't too many sites that can host the events Fonner Park does and many of those events cycle their locations. Currently, Peachey operates the non-profit using LB840 funding which is available for three years, so finding a solution to the economics is crucial to future success.
To illustrate the costs of operation, Brad Mellema with Grand Island Tourism shared that in transitioning from one livestock show to another, staff can burn through a set of skidsteer tires which cost thousands of dollars.
