Once we’ve all had our fill of cheese curds and smoked turkey legs, whipping around on rides, shopping for T-shirts, and visiting the butter statute, and The Big E packs up another season, a perennial question strikes many Western Mass residents: Who gets to keep all the money made during this 17-day, jam-packed fair?
Here’s a factoid on all that cash: A little over $1 million of it goes to compensating six high-ranking organization employees.
As many curious people have discovered, The Big E, an annual agriculture and Midway fair in West Springfield, is run by the Eastern States Exposition — a nonprofit.
Usually we think of nonprofits as small organizations that feed the hungry or strive for social justice. But the word “nonprofit” doesn’t apply to how much revenue a business can make, just where that money goes. Unlike a private corporation, a nonprofit cannot have shareholders or benefit employees too much. While salaries are necessary, excessive salaries could cost a nonprofit its favorable tax status.
So, when The Eastern States Exposition pulled in $17.7 million in revenue in 2013 — much of it generated by the fair — the business remained a nonprofit because it put nearly all of the money back into running the events, paying salaries, maintaining the grounds, advertising, and planning for the future.
The organization had $12.4 million in expenses and $2.2 million in losses that year and closed 2013 with a profit of $3.2 million. Much of that will assist the Eastern States Exposition in its $3.5 million 2015 capital project wish list, which includes facility improvements as well as the purchase of real estate, according to the Eastern States Exposition’s 2014 Annual Report.
Ahead of The Big E — which will be held Sept. 8-Oct. 4 — the Advocate dug through the Eastern States Exposition’s 990 tax files for 2013, the most recent information available, to learn more about how revenue from The Big E is spent. The tax filings include transactions by the Eastern Sates Exposition Foundation and Storrowtown Tavern Corporation. The 990 forms do not require the Eastern States Exposition to explain how much revenue came from The Big E and how much was collected from other events held by the organization.
However, according to the annual report, 83 percent of the nonprofit’s revenues are derived from Big E admission, parking and concession sales. This means The Big E generated about $14.7 million in revenue last year.
All told, the Eastern States Exposition (ESE) spent the most on programs and services, and salaries and wages.
The below graphs and list provide details on the nonprofit, which has a mission of providing opportunities for agricultural and cultural education, preservation, and fun. Check out where the money comes from, where it goes, and who gets paid the most to keep The Big E running.•
Contact Kristin Palpini at editor@valleyadvocate.com.
