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Audit: Poor management causes Colorado State Fair money loss

Posted at 5:11 AM, Nov 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-05 07:11:55-05

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado State Fair has lost money for 21 straight years and a state audit of the operation says it has not been managed strategically.

Colorado Public Radio reports the Colorado State Auditor's Office found the fair's deficits have averaged $4 million each year from 2014 to 2018.

The audit reports the Colorado State Fair Authority does not have a defined vision for its future, even though the organization paid $166,000 to a strategy consultant in 2017.

The audit says the authority has no comprehensive marketing plan and no target audience despite spending $1.1 million per year on marketing.

Fair leaders agreed to most of the audit's recommendations.

Fair manager Scott Stoller was hired in 2018 and says it is ready to start a "long, heavy process" of improvement.

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Information from: Colorado Public Radio, http://www.cpr.org/news