The municipality Chatham-Kent was able to stay well within budget for the International Plowing Match (IPM) that took place in September 2018.
A total of $911,781 was budgeted for the five-day event. According to a municipal information report, after sponsorships and invoice amounts, the event cost a total of $578,921. Overall costs were funded from either departmental budgets, invoices to the Ontario Plowman’s Association (OPA), sponsorships or one time from the municipality's Strategic Reserve.
Many of the departments and services for the event ended up costing less than expected. The largest chunk of money went to the Municipal Showcase Tent which was intended as a space to showcase the different communities and amenities in Chatham-Kent. The one-time cost for the showcase tent was funded through the Strategic Development Reserve and estimated to be around $200,000. However, expenses for the tent came in at nearly $20,000 less than expected. After receiving nearly $35,000 in sponsorships, the net cost of the tent was around $150,000 for the municipality.
Organizers estimate that around 24,750 people visited the Municipal Tent. One of the tent vendors, Claude Brière of Whyte’s Incorporated, said the company experienced significant benefits by being present in the tent.
"We can say without a doubt that we have exceeded our goals and expectations. We really believe the IPM was a great showcase for Whyte’s, allowing us to engage directly with thousands of citizens that were all very supportive and really look forward to buying our products," he said. "We feel energized by this event and can’t wait to be part of the Chatham-Kent community."
One of the other biggest expenses of the event was also one of the few that went over budget -- infrastructure and engineering services. These services came in around $55,000 over budget, totalling $320,793. According to the report, more time than anticipated was needed to prepare the roads around the event and bring wood chips to the event site following heavy rainfall.
The only other department to go over budget was the coverage of fire prevention and suppression and medical prevention and response. The Chatham-Kent Fire Department assisted EMS with patient care multiple times during high heat conditions. As well, daily tracking of weather patterns and the development of tentative contingency plans were also prepared by the fire department. The OPA was invoiced $30,000 for these costs.
(Photo by Angelica Haggert)
The cost to provide police services for the event was estimated at $43,927 and ended up costing $39,793, which was an in-kind donation. The $16,500 in overtime for police work was invoiced to the OPA.
The price tag to market CK at the event came in at $46,475, which was $17,525 less than estimated. This cost included community attraction and leisure services staff time and the production and use of marketing and promotional materials. According to the report, one of the biggest spinoffs from this cost was staff being able to conduct more than 900 surveys during the event, gathering important tourism data.
The municipality also got to keep several of the purchases left over from the event including large iron letters that spell out 'CK', two garden benches, two tables and several tourism maps.
Overall, it is reported that the economic spinoff of the International Plowing Match is estimated to be around $3 million based on data from CK Tourism.