As the fair comes to a close, the visitors go home, the vendors pack up their supplies and things begin to settle down in the city the N.C. State Fair staff begins to gear back up. Such an exciting event requires a lot of effort to organize, but this team is certainly up for the task. For Letrice Midgett, the State Fair’s commercial space administrator, her job begins shortly after the fair ends. With so many vendors and exhibitors scattered across the fairgrounds every year, her support is indispensable in ensuring the fair runs smoothly.
Midgett begins her work by going through the list of vendors and looking at photos to see what can be improved for the next year. Each vendor operates on a one-year contract, and she does her best to make sure that there’s as much variety among them as possible.
Each year she manages a group of nearly 400 concessionaires, vendors, exhibitors and non-profits. With each of those people have individual needs and focuses, she has to work with each one of them personally to make sure they’re prepared for the fair and that everything is running smoothly. During the fair, that looks like visiting every one of vendors at least twice over the fair’s eleven day run. At times Midgett has even jumped in to help some of the booths during their busiest hours.
She started working for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture straight out of college in 1996 and started working for the State Fair in 2007. Over the years she’s developed relationships with many of the returning vendors around the fair. As part of her job she also gets to travel to other fairs and conventions to recruit vendors to apply to be at the next N.C. State Fair.
“My favorite thing about the fair is seeing vendors and the pay off of their hard work,” Midgett said. In her role she’s had the chance to watch many of the business transform over the years as they gain more followers and put that money back into improving their business.
When reflecting on what part of her 15+ year career with the N.C. State Fair has had the biggest impact on her, Midgett said that it would probably have to be the relationships she’s formed over the years.
“You look forward to seeing the vendors each year to find out about their families or keep up with them on social media,” she said. As a North Carolina native who went to the fair as a kid, she never imagined that one day she would get to work behind the scenes and help put on this incredible event. She looks forward to continuing to work with the fair and making sure that it continues to be the number one fair in the country.