Butte County Fairground Has a New CEO

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Late August is a busy time of year at the Butte County Fairgrounds, and this last year was no exception as Matt Reed officially began his new role as the Fair CEO.

Long-time Fair CEO, Steve Kenny, stayed onboard as CEO of Infrastructure and Grant Writing, mentoring Reed as he familiarized himself with the day-to-day operations of the Butte County Fairgrounds (BCF) and helped organize the 2022 event. Six months later, Reed is still hard at work preparing for the 2023 fair, while streamlining and modernizing aspects of the fair and operations of the grounds.

Reed hails from an agriculture background and holds a BA and Master’s in Ag Education. He taught Ag for 10 years, most of it at Gridley High School, and believes the skills he learned coordinating events with his students, especially with FFA, have prepared him for the planning and contracting abilities necessary for running the BCF and the fairgrounds itself. Taking on more roles has allowed Reed to reduce some positions at BCF and as a result, costs to the fairgrounds.

The CEO has actively begun the process of contracting vendors, entertainment and more for the BCF and says that there will definitely be some new additions come fair time. He reassures the community that his goal is to keep the traditional feel of the BC Fair intact but bring it into the modern age. For example, Reed is looking at earlier pre-ticket sales and the use of QR codes for faster entry and “trendy” food vendors to join the tried-and-true.

Reed is planning for more child-friendly activities, especially for the younger crowd. This year the BCF will feature a Kid Zone – a shaded area where children can play in a “rice pit” (think sandbox), tractors donated by Papé for the children to play on and explore, and activities like making smush hats.

A new edition to Thursday’s Kids Day will be GellyBall in the arena, courtesy of NorCal Gellyball. Gellyball is very much like paint ball, but instead of hard paint balls, Orbee-like balls (very soft, gel filled balls) are used to shoot at rivals.

Overall, Reed hopes to engage more youth participation in all aspects of the fair. He encourages local teachers and students to enter their class projects or personal work into various stills categories, including the new Digital Media division. He goes as far to say that the fairgrounds will even hold the submissions until fair time if they bring them to the office in June and register for the corresponding departments. “It’s good for kids to see that they got something for their work and their effort – they may get a ribbon for it!”

But there will be some things missing from the fair this year…

The Flower Bowl will not be on site at fair time and the two buildings across the street by the Gridley Pool will join it. Thanks to Assemblyman James Gallagher and Supervisor Tod Kimmelshue, the BCF received a grant from the State to demolish the condemned structures. Reed hopes that he can preserve some of the grant funding by having local CALFIRE/Butte County use the buildings for training exercises, as the fair is a non-profit organization.

Reed brings a renewed energy to his position and says that he is “very excited” about the future of the fair and the potential events that may be held at the fairgrounds. He is looking at holding a “Night at the Fair” during the summer months, inviting food trucks for an evening for the community to enjoy. A Greek Festival may be on the horizon in the fall and Reed would personally love to reinstate an annual dog show at the venue.

In a testament to how Reed is doing as acting CEO, BCF’s Administrative Secretary Venessa Wilson says, “It’s been a pleasure working with him.” She continues, “He has stepped up and is knocking every little task out of the ballpark.”