Community asked to take fair survey

The Hancock County Agricultural Society is conducting a strategic plan of the fairgrounds and needs the public's input. The goal, according to agricultural society President Jeff Cole, is to create a vision for the Hancock County Fairgrounds so the board has a sustainable plan in place to serve the youths and families of the community. "As we have been coming out of our recovery phase of the pandemic, we certainly thought this was a good time to refresh our strategic plan," he said. "It's been 10 or so years since it was really looked at, so we're trying to get current again." Things have changed a lot in the past 10 or 15 years, he noted. "We want to make sure that we are soliciting as much feedback from the community as we can. So the survey is really the second part of our community feedback process," he said. The agricultural society has partnered with Shift-ology Communication in Springfield to guide the strategic planning process. The undertaking started with the board interviewing community leaders such as Mayor Christina Muryn, the Hancock County commissioners, and officials from the Hancock County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Cole. Focus groups also provided feedback. These groups included community members who aren't personally invested in the fairgrounds but have an interest in what happens there. Each of these groups have unique perspectives and can help the fair board understand its "blind spots," said Cole. Feedback was used to create the survey, which can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/QGRSFLF or by accessing the QR code. The board hopes to collect a communitywide response to ensure that the earlier takeaways are statistically accurate. The deadline to complete the survey is April 6. "Then we'll be able to roll that data up and understand what the community's telling us," said Cole. The board will get together to discuss the results, adjust the strategic plan and make updates based on the input received. "Then we'll communicate that back. We'll let everyone know what we heard and how that has adjusted our strategic plan and what they can then hopefully be looking for in the next two to five years," Cole said. This may include changes at the fairgrounds and with programming and partnerships in the community. The goal, he noted, is to make for a better fair experience and a better agricultural society. "My moto for the 2022 year is 'The Other 51,' and what are we doing the other 51 weeks of the year, and how we communicate and work with the community," said Cole. The fair doesn't happen with one week's worth of work and the board puts in a lot of time and energy into making the event happen, he added. "But what are we doing with the community the other 51 weeks of the year?" said Cole. Wolf: 419-427-8419