Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Economic Development Group Board of Directors, at its regular meeting on Sept. 21, declined to continue underwriting the Sweet Home Rodeo.
“The rodeo management team puts on a great event,” said SHEDG President Kevin Strong. “It has a very nice family friendly atmosphere, and it offers great entertainment.”
Separate from that, the SHEDG board made its decision, Strong said. “We’re not underwriting it any more.
“Initially, we hoped we could develop a synergy between the rodeo and Jamboree when it came to marketing efforts.”
But that hasn’t happened, Strong said. “The synergy wasn’t there.”
Like all nonprofit organizations, SHEDG must make decisions about how to allocate its limited resources.
From 2005 to 2011, SHEDG has contributed more than $43,000 to the rodeo, Strong said.
The rodeo went under the SHEDG umbrella in 2006, after the Rodeo Board approached SHEDG for help paying the bills in 2005.
Since then, the rodeo broke even in 2007, but had more than $11,000 in losses in 2010, Strong said.
This year, the rodeo was in the red by approximately $6,000.
Instead of underwriting the event, the SHEDG board discussed the possibility of becoming a rodeo sponsor, Strong said. “It’s definitely something we will consider.”
“Sweet Home puts on a great rodeo, and I’m hopeful that the rodeo management team will continue to be able to do so,” Strong said. He can see that the Rodeo Board is already out looking for sponsors for the 2012 show.
“They have a small, good group of committed volunteers wanting to put on an excellent rodeo,” he said.
“We’re going to go ahead with the rodeo,” said Rodeo President Dick Coffin. “I’m filling out incorporation papers.
“They are not going to underwrite us. They are going to think about sponsorship. They did help us in the past, (but) I’m not going to let this rodeo go that easy.”
The Sweet Home Rodeo is ahead of the game this year, Coffin said. The board is already seeking sponsorships – ahead of the time many businesses decide where they will spend sponsorship money.
Getting the early start will help, Coffin said. In the past, the rodeo had to await approval and other details before it got going. It would be late February or early March before its members could start seeking sponsorships, leaving only a few months to get the job done.
“It takes a year to put this rodeo on,” Coffin said. “We can’t wait three months, four months before the rodeo to get this done.”
He has some great people involved in it, and they’re getting it done, he said. “Wayne White is coming on board a lot more than he ever has in the past. We’re going to go where the money’s at.”
He has several contacts he would like to bring in, Coffin said.