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Mark Andrus, Expo Square president and CEO, discusses recent changes at the fair facility and what’s in store for this year’s main event.
Serving as president and CEO of Expo Square is the only job that could make Mark Andrus leave the Tulsa Police Department after 34 years to the day.
Andrus fell in love with the Tulsa State Fair in 1979, his first year of a more than three-decade-long tenure as a fair security officer and then security director of Expo Square.
Andrus assumed the position of chief operating officer in 2008 and was named CEO in April 2009, after Expo Square’s board of directors conducted a national search. It seemed there was no better fit than the dedicated man who has instilled a genuine appreciation for the fair in his family — and everyone he meets.
TulsaPeople caught up with Andrus during the fairgrounds’ busiest time of year to talk money, service and what to expect.
All levels of employees have worked on our vision, mission and values statement, and we are proud of it. Our vision is to be recognized as a premier public-use event complex providing first-class, multi-use facilities; quality service; and producing one of America’s great state fairs.
The $120 million investment made in Expo Square improvements by the fine people of Tulsa County is quite obvious to any visitor: new barns and arenas, expanded parking, state-of-the-art cooking facilities, beautiful meeting rooms and landscaping, just to name a few. We deal with more “space issues” than NASA, and we’re very good at it.
We have spent the past months identifying several budget challenges. If you’re looking for me to place blame somewhere for these current challenges, I won’t. During the 1990s, Expo Square was truly barely living from “paycheck to paycheck” to keep the aging doors open. Then, because of the brilliance of the authors of the revenue-generating programs 4-to-Fix (the County), Vision 2025 and 4-to-Fix 2, and the continued brilliance of the Tulsa County voters who said “yes,” the rebirth of Expo Square became possible.
From 2000 until three days before the 2008 fair, we were a 240-acre construction zone. Our great customers and understanding nearby neighbors tolerated construction dust, detours and using shuttles to get to their shows because they believed what we believed — a new and great future was being built at Expo Square that would be enjoyed by the grandchildren of their grandchildren.
When you ask what economic impact Expo Square has on the Tulsa area, I feel like I should ask for a drum roll before I answer. Bob Ball, economist for the Tulsa Metro Chamber, completed a 2009 study of just that. His answer is “over $145 million.” If Expo Square was not open for business, that’s a lot of money that would not be in the cash registers of local restaurants, hotels, stores, rental cars, movie theaters and every other place people spend money.
My management style is to ask a lot of questions and to check price tags. You have to work smarter and work leaner. My proudest area of expertise is that I know who all the experts are. I love Expo Square, and I love the fair. If you didn’t see me here in this position, you’d see me out on the midway guessing people’s weight.
The 2009 Tulsa State Fair will be my 31st fair — early morning until late at night every day, all day — and I will tell you this: This year will be the best fair yet.
Tulsa State Fair
