Center for Economic Analysis

We use intercept surveys of attendees at the 2018 UP State Fair, surveys of vendors and accounting data to estimate new economic activity generated in the Michigan Upper Peninsula and the hosting community. By new economic activity, we strongly limit what we consider to be contributions to economic activities in this report, in that only those expenditures that arise from outside the regional economy are used as bases for generating an economic impact. The 2018 UP State Fair generated $865,197 in gross revenues for the UP State Fairgrounds. After accounting for costs of hosting the 2018 UP State Fair, $303,197 was earned for the continued operations and maintenance of the UP State Fairgrounds. Total attendance topped 92,000 and the 2017 record attendance by 6.3 percent. About 18 percent of attendees came from outside the region and 13 percent of attendees generated overnight stays in the region. Attendees spent about $554,860 in the fairgrounds and about $5,359,476 outside of the fairgrounds. Only expenditures of non-local attendees outside of the fairgrounds was used as a basis for generating an economic impact. A total of 188 vendors purchased space at the 2018 UP State Fair; creating both revenue for the UP State Fairgrounds and spending in the local economy. They spent about $263,778 in the local economy. Most vendors (122) were from outside the region, and only those expenditures from vendors from outside the region were used to assess an economic impact. Based on our estimates, the 2018 UP State Fair generated $2,764,310 million in new transactions in the region that supported 29 regional jobs with annual labor income of $686,521. Taking other types of income into consideration, the 2018 UP State Fair generated $1,360,151 in new income in the region. These estimates do not take into consideration spending from local residents, whose expenditures at the fair are likely to offset other expenditures in the region.