Merced County Fair announces new CEO

Teresa Burrola, the longtime business assistant for the Merced County Fair, has been named its new chief executive officer, the board announced Wednesday.

Burrola, 55, will succeed Tom Musser, who retired at the end of June, the fair board said in a news release. She has been serving as interim CEO since his departure.

Burrola was among seven applicants the board considered for the position, according to board President Mark Erreca of Los Banos. “We had several experienced and talented applicants,” Erreca said, “but Teresa was the one who stood out the most.

“She is well-respected by the fair and within the fair industry. Her passion and enthusiasm for the fair really comes across.”

As CEO, Burrola’s responsibilities include producing the 2016 fair and overseeing day-to-day operations at the fairgrounds. The fair, faced with ongoing state funding cuts, will continue to be challenged to create new revenue streams, such as renting out facilities. The CEO role comes with an annual salary of $86,844, the fair news release said.

In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown ended an annual $32 million allocation to fairs across the state, which resulted in a loss of $168,000 for the Merced County Fair.

Burrola said her years working at the fair with previous managers have taught her a lot about the fair industry. “I’d like to take the best of what I’ve learned from each of them, along with my ideas, to make our fair even more successful and one the community can be proud of,” she said.

Burrola grew up in Sonora and moved to Merced at 14. She graduated from Merced High School in 1978 and soon after started working at Farmers Insurance, where she was employed for 19 years. When the office announced it was closing in 1998, she went to work at the Merced County Fair as a temporary office technician.

She was hired full-time later in 1998 and was promoted to business assistant in 2002.

According to Burrola, fairgoers can expect a few changes next year, including new entertainment offerings such as a Monster Truck show and Freestyle “Moto X & Tuff Truck” racing in the Grandstand.

Burrola said she also wants to bring back live entertainment targeting the Latino community, which in the past has been scheduled on Sundays. She said she knows that for many working Latino families, the fair offers affordable entertainment near home, and wants to make sure that tradition is included in next year’s plans.

Although she said the fair cannot yet advertise scheduled performers, she said fairgoers can expect a “pretty big” country act.

The fair will also bring back a children’s admission ticket, which means kids between ages 6 and 12 will pay a reduced rate of $4. Children ages 5 and under will continue to have free admission. General admission is $7 for fairgoers ages 13 years and up.

“We want to make coming to the fair affordable for families,” Burrola said. “This is a community celebration and I want to encourage families to come for the fun, excitement and educational opportunities that the Merced County Fair presents.

“We have a clean and safe environment for families to celebrate the ‘5 Best Days of Summer.’”

Next year, the Merced County Fair will celebrate its 125th anniversary and will run from June 8 to 12.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Merced County Fair announces new CEO."