ASSOCIATION FROM THE OABA CHAIR
Chair's Message Rick Reithoffer, OABA Chair 2023
H appy New Year to all!
Show men and show women, by now a lot of you are starting to get ready for the 2023 season. I have
been on the state convention tour and a lot of people have asked what I was hoping to accomplish this year as the Chair of the OABA. My theme or goal for this year is to inform or educate the fair partners as to the state of the carnival indus- try in the US in 2022.
Last year the OABA did a search of all carnivals that were in existence before the pandemic to get an accurate accounting of who was still in business so we could try and get our mem- bership back to pre-pandemic numbers. We were astounded to learn that in 2017 there were over 500 carnivals in the US and in 2022 we now have less than 166 carnivals left. You might ask why or how this has happened. Many shows, carnival food operators and game concessionaires just simply timed out, retired or simply did not have the funds to survive a year and a half without any income. Many showmen took summer vacations that they had never had a chance to do before and many of our younger generation decided to try “regular” jobs. They could work from 9–5 Monday through Friday with nights, weekends and holidays off. They decided carnival life and work was too hard and just did not have the rewards that it used to have. Why go back out on the road for 8–10 months. What we have left is a vast amount of American people who used to work in our industry who are just not there anymore. Labor shortages have made running a show, food concessions or game concessions just about impossible.
Most showmen have turned to the foreign guest worker pro- gram (H2B) to get workers to fill the positions that Americans used to work. This answer to our labor problem is not an easy or affordable solution and it comes with all kinds of govern- ment red tape and regulations. The government mandates that we provide bunkhouses with a required minimum square foot- age space ($$$$). The government now determines we must
pay all of our employees by the hour and the federal govern- ment decides how much that hourly rate is. This has caused our payroll costs to skyrocket with the majority of cases hav- ing labor costs doubled, as many states in the Northeast and all over the US have raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour and more.
Our not so silent partners, insurance companies, are raising our premiums every year and many showmen are asking where will it stop or when will enough be enough. Another huge expense last year, thanks to our government shutting down pipelines, was our diesel fuel costs rising to over $6 a gallon. Diesel fuel expenses which we need to get the show over the road and fuel for all of our generators to supply electric for the midway has increased significantly. All of these factors have contributed to the demise of many
shows.
Lastly, many of the younger generation do not have the work ethics of their forefathers. The commitment it takes to operate in this industry takes a toll on our family life, our per- sonal life and our health. This business is just too much work and sacrifice. They see that the expenses, regulations and outlook for the future just don’t add up or make sense. These are economic facts that I wish to inform or educate our fair partners about. They need to know that the current state of most of our contracts is just not sustainable in the long haul.
I apologize for the doom and gloom but we show people love what we do and have a way of overcoming adversity like no other business people I have ever encountered. Together we have hope.
So onward and upward and I hope we all have a better 2023 season.
God Bless and safe travels, Rick
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4 OABA ShowTime Magazine | MARCH 2023
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