By Sara Quam
It's an understatement to say that Prairie Expo's first year of operation fell short of its projected $10 million profits.
Instead of raking in the millions, Prairie Expo is sucking money from cash reserves and the general fund of its owner - the Southwest Regional Development Commission.
Since opening in September, the visitors center has attracted just 30,000 guests. But Grant Lloyd, the Expo's director, said he sees a brighter summer approaching.
"We're starting to see some results from contacts we've made," Lloyd said. "There are good things happening amid all the bad things."
That isn't unusual for a first-year operation, he pointed out.
"Fifty-two percent of the visitors have been from outside the region, and most were traveling to another destination and decided to stop," Lloyd said. "We know we're going to have a good number of travelers as we build an identity."
Lloyd has already booked bus tours and made contacts with other touring companies that could view Prairie Expo as a stopping place.
Lloyd sees positive reactions coming from visitors. He said negative comments about the facility have come exclusively from those who were opposed to the project from the beginning.
"It's important that the project has support from the staff, the board and communities," he said. "We have to make sure that each of the communities is able to utilize the facility."
Modified first-year projections have Prairie Expo getting 300,000 visitors by the end of the summer, including the two busiest travel months.
The bottom line
Even with an optimistic eye to the future, there's still the matter of Prairie Expo using a good share of the SRDC's money in the meantime.
One figure puts Prairie Expo using about half of the SRDC's cash reserves through the winter in addition to what is already set aside for ExpoÕs budget.
Luverne Economic Development Director Tony Chladek said, "The SRDC works on a lot of projects for small communities, and it would be devastating to have the SRDC be affected by this."
The SRDC includes programs like Community Housing and Economic Development, Environment and Land Use, Transportation and the Area Agency on Aging.
The city of Luverne and Rock County each gave a one-time $5,000 donation to Prairie Expo last year. The state financed most of the $7-million facility.
Fund-raising isn't over yet. A new committee, made up of volunteers from the staff and directors, will approach area communities for additional money for marketing this spring.