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Cassidy makes plans for Expo as new CEO

Date: 1/4/2012

Jan. 4, 2012

By Katelyn Gendron

Assistant Managing Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — His education and professional backgrounds may be in the financial management but Eugene Cassidy, the new CEO of Eastern States Exposition (ESE), isn’t solely interested in the financial wellbeing of the Expo.

“We have a really small staff of people here so we really get in each others way and get involved in a lot of different roles,” he said with a chuckle.

Cassidy will officially take over on June 27 for CEO Wayne McCary, who is retiring after serving as the Expo’s leader since 1991.

“Mr. McCary has done a great job. I’ve worked with him for over 18 years now and he’s fostered the development of all of us,” Cassidy said.

The Big E and the Expo’s entertainment offerings will not stray from what people have come to expect under McCary, Cassidy noted.

“From a production point of view, we change the fair every year. Whatever changes we see are going to be the normal changes that keep us viable,” he explained, noting that 80 percent of ESE’s annual revenue comes from the 17-day Big E.

“We have been very successful in the operation of the fair and we’re in a good financial position. People see the sparkling lights of the fair and the big name entertainers but we’ve got a lot more agriculture than we’ve ever had,” Cassidy said, noting that there were more than 4,660 animal entries in the 2011 Big E alone.

While the agricultural aspects of the Big E are booming, the big name entertainment has, and will continue to, change under Cassidy’s leadership.

“My first fair was in 1994 and in the mid ’90s we could bring in the biggest name such as Willie Nelson for $40,000 or Faith Hill for $30,000. You could bring those big names in and afford to give them away,” he recalled. “The entertainment industry has changed and they have very dramatic demands and the cost of those demands have increased exponentially. The acts are sort of the advent of the television media. They don’t have a lot of depth but demand a million dollar paycheck.

“We’re limited to 6,300 people [in the Comcast Arena] and so we have had to transfer some of the cost for those who are willing to pay for it. We can’t ask the average fairgoer to pay for a $300,000 act. The fact remains that we’re still spending $130,000 per day on free entertainment [with the price of admission],” he continued.

Cassidy noted that above all, ESE is a mission-driven organization committed to the promotion of education and agriculture and that he plans to uphold that mission in his new post.

“ESE is the premier venue for family entertainment for all of the region. All who participate in the fair are great supporters of agriculture and we’re very grateful for that,” he said.



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