Longtime State Fair manager invites everyone back to the 'celebration of humanity'

When Jerry Hammer recently took his old Trek bicycle to the shop for a tune-up, he was told at first it wouldn't be ready for 10 days. Then the clerk realized who Hammer is and said the bike would be ready the next morning.

"We've got to take care of our fair," the clerk said.

Hammer, the Minnesota Star Fair's general manager, and his staff are hoping the fair that opens Thursday in Falcon Heights will be closer to normal after COVID-19 forced the event to shut down in 2020 and reduced turnout in 2021. Those two years make for the most challenging chapter in Hammer's 25 years of running the fair, longer than any other State Fair general manager.

The year 2020 "wasn't fun for anybody," said Hammer, who rides his bike daily to the fairgrounds from his home in St. Paul's Como neighborhood and uses it to patrol the fairgrounds' 322 acres. "But when your business is bringing people together and that's the very thing you can't do, that puts you in a tough spot."

Fair officials this year have budgeted for an anticipated 12-day attendance of 1.7 million. That would be down from the last pre-pandemic year, 2019, when the fair set an attendance record of 2.1 million. But it would be up from 1.3 million last year, when COVID variants and wet weather held down attendance.

"We're not expecting a record year, we never do. So we budget income conservatively and are usually wrong on the low side," Hammer said.

That approach helped buffer the State Fair over the past two years. Though shutting down the event in 2020 created financial and organizational challenges, not one of the 80 employees on the permanent staff was furloughed or cut.

"Our priority had to be keeping our organization intact despite being out of business," Hammer said.

Despite its name, the State Fair is run not by the state but by the Minnesota State Agricultural Society. It receives no state subsidies and is self-sustaining. And it has its own fundraising arm: the Minnesota State Fair Foundation, established 20 years ago by community leaders to solidify the fair's future.

In 2019, the State Fair had operating revenue of $62 million; last year, it was down to $45 million, Hammer said. But fair officials eased the shortfall by finding new revenue, restructuring debt and holding off on improvements. In 2020, they held a drive-through fair, which sold out. And in 2021, there was a multi-day kickoff event over the Memorial Day weekend.

The fair, which can issue its own revenue bonds, stretched out debt payments. Before the pandemic refinance, debt service was about $3 million annually and on track to be paid off by 2027. The annual payments are now $2 million and will be paid off in 2032, according to Hammer.

In the past two decades, the State Fair used its borrowing power for big projects: renovation of the grandstand (which Hammer calls "the cathedral") in 2003; upgrades to the International Bazaar and livestock facility in 2004; overhaul of the West End and construction of the Transit Hub in 2014; and building of the North End Event center in 2019.

But the pandemic meant deferring new improvements and maintenance. "We're in good enough shape to take a couple years off," Hammer said.

On a table in Hammer's office is a stack of colorful brochures with the heading, "State Fair Magic," detailing customer service expectations.

"Treat everyone like your best friend," it says. "Make eye contact and smile. Reach out to people who need help. Give everyone just a few extra seconds of your time and attention. It's the little things that make a difference."

Hammer is "fully invested in delivering the best possible experience for the customer," said vendor Larry Abdo, who has operated at the fair since the early 1970s first with the Pita Gourmet food stand and then Big Fat Bacon. He also owns Gopher State Ice, which supplies all the ice for fair vendors.

Both Abdo and Tim Weiss, the owner of Giggles' Campfire Grill, praised Hammer as someone with a vision. "Everything is thought out," Abdo said.

Before Weiss built Giggles at the Fair, he owned Gabe's By the Park on Lexington Parkway and knew Hammer from the neighborhood. Hammer, he said, is the "face of the fair and he gets things done. He's not a micromanager but a great manager."

The State Fair board appoints Hammer year-to-year, and his salary is not public. Before he became general manager, he ran marketing for the fair after starting as a summer worker in the greenhouse.

He talks about his long-time gig as if he's the luckiest guy in the world. He said he enjoys watching strangers on benches, sharing buckets of chocolate chip cookies.

"Whatever's going on in the rest of the world, it doesn't matter when you come to the fair," Hammer said, adding that the gathering has grown beyond its agricultural roots: "We're much more than that. What the fair has been for generations is a celebration of humanity."

After the fair has been open for an hour Thursday, Hammer said, he will conduct what he calls "State Fair communion," his tradition since 1997. He buys a bag of hot Tom Thumb Donuts from a stand near Ye Old Mill and then gives them out "to whoever I see, whether I know them or not."

When he gets back to his office in the Administration Building, he will tuck the empty bag into a souvenir milk pail to join 24 bags from previous opening days.

As to when he might retire, he gives no clues. His response: A grin, his arms crossed over his chest and a terse answer, "I'm 67."

Weiss thinks Hammer might leave after this year — if, that is, the fair has a good bounce-back year. "It's got to be in good financial shape, then he'll retire," Weiss said.

In the meantime, Hammer is focused on the next couple weeks and eager to help more people return after two off-years to the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

"We're hard-wired to share experiences," he said. "Human beings are social creatures. We need this."