The Ohio State Fair’s longest-serving general manager announces retirement

COLUMBUS, Ohio–Virgil Strickler, the longest-serving general manager of the Ohio State Fair in state history, announced Thursday that he intends to retire after this year.

“This, today, is pretty hard for me, as you can imagine,” Strickler said at a news conference with Gov. Mike DeWine at the state fairgrounds. “But I know that there’s so many good things that are going to happen.”

Strickler began working at the Ohio Expo Center in 1993 as agriculture director, according to a DeWine release. He was named general manager in 2004.

Among other accomplishments, Strickler helped create the Ohio State Fair’s Youth Reserve Program in 1995, which has awarded a total of more than $4.6 million in scholarships to more than 44,500 youth exhibitors who participate in the fair. DeWine announced the program has been named in Strickler’s honor.

The state fair’s general manager has to work with a number of state agencies and departments to coordinate fair activities, security, and other logistics. The job also involves helping to plan and stage dozens of other non-fair events at the fairgrounds, including the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and the Arnold Classic.

DeWine said he has convened a committee led by Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz to conduct a nationwide search for Strickler’s successor.

“This is a very big job. This is a tough job,” the governor said. “And we want literally the best person we can find.”

Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer