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Study: Spokane County Fairgrounds drives millions in local spending; staff recommends renewing ticketing contract
Summary
A consultant presented an economic impact study finding the fairgrounds generate roughly $25M–$70M in annual economic activity (fair + year‑round events). Fair staff recommended awarding admissions and ticketing services to TicketsWest (parent Pac/West) and placing a contract on next week's agenda for board approval.
A March 17 presentation by Johnson Consulting and Spokane County fair staff framed the county fairgrounds as a significant local economic engine and asked the board to approve a new admissions and ticketing contract.
Consultant Charlie Johnson said the fairgrounds operate year‑round and that the non‑fair events generate the bulk of economic activity. “When you roll it up to the next slide, you're a $70,000,000 a year operation,” Johnson said, summarizing tourism‑style economic modeling that counted attendee spending, out‑of‑town visitors and hotel room nights. The study estimated millions in local spending, supported jobs and roughly $5.4 million in combined tax revenues across jurisdictions…
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