MONROE — Compeer Financial’s Fund for Rural America, the Farm Credit cooperative’s giving program, is supporting county fairs with grants to improve facilities and experiences offered to rural communities across the Upper Midwest. Sixty-one fairs received County Fair Facility Upgrade Grants this year, totaling $241,850. 

“County fairs are an integral part of summer experiences for rural communities,” said Karen Schieler, senior corporate giving specialist at Compeer Financial. “These grants aid fairgrounds in supporting necessary updates, which improve the experience for exhibitors and are enjoyed by the thousands of visitors attending fairs each year.”

Of this year’s applicants:

●  37% have needs for electric, lighting or ventilation improvements to improve security and safety

●  25% have needs for building upgrades, enhancing exhibitor and public experiences

●  24% have needs for structural repairs to extend the life of the buildings

●  15% have needs for new or repairing animal pens and stalls, to accommodate increasing number of exhibitors and support the safety of animals, exhibitors and the public

Since the program was established in 2018, the Fund has awarded 422 County Fair Facility Upgrade Grants for a total impact of over $1.4 million, touching the lives of 11.1 million fair organizers, participants and attendees. The Fund intends to offer this grant again in March 2025.  

The 61 organizations in Compeer Financial’s territory receiving support from the County Fair Facility Upgrade Grant Program include:

●  Green County Agricultural Society and Mechanics Institute: LED lighting upgrades in the sheep and goat barn, hog building and show building

●  Stephenson County (Ill.) Fair Association: updating electrical in swine and goat barns

●  The Elizabeth (Ill.) Community Fair: repairing and painting the roofs and additional electrical drops in the dairy and beef barn, replacing doors on the milk house, installing a new breaker panel in the dairy barn

For more information about the Country Fair Facility Upgrade Program, visit compeer.com/giving-back.