Doug White is like a kid at Christmas when he talks about the Arkansas State Fairgrounds and all of the musicians who have come through the gates.
His office is filled with guitars he found at garage sales and pawnshops that he had signed by acts including Ratt, Ann Wilson, 38 Special, Bret Michaels and Tracy Lawrence.
And then there's the "merch room" in what White calls the "catacombs" of Barton Coliseum. The small room is where bands store their merchandise and is covered with graffiti from performers.
The number of signatures on the walls is staggering -- "Robert Plant Now & Zen 88," "Ozzy No More Tours Tour '92," "Kenny/Dolly Tour," "KISS '90," "Bon Jovi was here." That's just a smidgen of what's on the walls in the room that is said to have been a favorite hang-out of a well-known rock 'n' roll groupie who was immortalized in Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band" -- long before White lived in Arkansas.
"I have the best job in the world," White says.
White didn't intend to become president and general manager of the fairgrounds when he took a seat on the Arkansas Livestock Show Association's board of directors nine years ago. The situation changed after the 2018 State Fair took a financial beating resulting from six days of rain. By December, Ralph Shoptaw decided to retire as president and general manager.
"We, as a board, knew that financially we were in a fairly precarious position," White says. "We didn't really know how bad it was until we started digging a little bit more and discovered that rain and the tremendous amount of dependence on those 10 days to cover our annual operating budget was such that we needed to make some difficult decisions."
White volunteered to slow down his consulting business and focus his time on shoring up the financial problem. The board decided unanimously to name White as interim president and general manager. In June, the board made the position permanent.
"He is a big personality, he's funny and he also is very much a go-getter," says board member Anne Marie Doramus. "In less than one year, from a financial standpoint, he has completely turned things around. ... It takes a special person to do this job."
His friend Stacy Sells agrees.
"Doug is just one of those people with a huge personality. He is so over-the-top friendly, and it was an instant connection. I can go for months and months and not see him, and then we can just pick back up where we left off.
"And I always leave with tears running down my face because he is such fun."
But the work hasn't been easy.
First, White asked Gov. Asa Hutchinson to help him convince lawmakers to approve about $911,000 from the state's rainy-day fund to bail out the financially strapped fairgrounds with the promise it was a one-time request.
Next, White cut his staff in half -- from 18 to nine full-time employees. Then he cut the operating budget by about 40%.
And finally, he put together a plan to make the fairgrounds less dependent on revenue from the annual fair and more reliant on revenue from events that happen year-round.
"It's very easy to concentrate on those 10 days of the fair as your moneymaker. And that's what we've done in the past," he says. "But it's clear you can't plan on 10 days of sun. You're going to have to budget, I think more realistically, that you're going to have some rain. It's probably going to happen on a weekend. And you're going to have to plan your budget accordingly."
This year, White has done whatever is necessary to have events at the fairgrounds on as many weekends as possible. So far, more than 40 events have taken place since January. There have been vintage markets, dog shows, horse shows, the Big Buck Classic, a home and garden show, and even midget wrestling.
"We're succeeding. Our cash flow situation is better than it's been in 15 years," White says. "All of our creditors are paid, lines of credit have been restored and -- knock on wood -- this year's fair looks to be bigger and better than it's ever been."
STATE FAIR TURNS 80
The fair is Oct. 11-20. The acts include 1980s heartthrob Rick Springfield.
"On my desk, I've got a 45 of "Jessie's Girl" that I bought at a vintage market we had a couple of weeks ago," he says of Springfield's 1981 hit record.
"My daughter saw it and said 'Dad, you've gotta get him to sign it that weekend.' He puts on a really good show. I guess he was here three years ago, and I mean he works his ass off. I always marvel. These guys have got money. They just love performing."
Other blasts from the past who will perform include the Gin Blossoms, who gained fame in the 1990s, Sawyer Brown and the Oak Ridge Boys, who played at Barton Coliseum in 1972.
"They're all still alive, and they're coming back, and everybody's excited about it," he says of the Oak Ridge Boys. "Every one of them has got to be in their 70s right? And they're all still alive, and I'm just thunderstruck."
And he's right. The Oak Ridge Boys are definitely no longer boys. Their ages range from 70-75.
"We're not going to get Cher. We're not going to get Paul McCartney," he says. "Verizon Arena is going to get all of those. And I'm completely cool with that."
But what he has that Verizon doesn't is parking spots -- lots of parking spots. He can park 10,000 vehicles inside the gates of the fairgrounds.
"Secure parking is a huge selling point for us that we don't use enough," he says.
"The biggest change that we make for 2019 is, and this was a bit blasphemous when I first proposed it, but we don't have a rodeo this year," White says. "This is our 80th fair in Little Rock, and this will be the first time we haven't had a rodeo. And the reason is the rodeo was dying. We did not have a good quality product. And it was costing us money."
It cost about $65,000 to bring a rodeo to the fair, and no one was buying tickets to see it. To fill the seats, White says he gave away tickets and he could no longer justify that.
Instead of a rodeo, this year's fair will host a Monster Truck Show that will feature Bigfoot, the original monster truck from the 1970s, at Barton Coliseum. The concrete floors will be covered with dirt that has to be moved from a far corner of the fairgrounds into the coliseum. The last Monster Truck Show at Barton was held in January on concrete floors.
"They were smashing cars, and the cacophony. The sound was just 'Oh my God,'" he said of the January event. "So on dirt, it does sound a little bit more muted. I'm still, frankly, a little bit worried about them spooking all of the animals that will be here."
In the past, the main stage has been empty during the day. The concerts didn't get started until 7 p.m. This year will be different -- something will be going on at the main stage during the day -- whether it be talent shows, gymnastics, juggling, spelling bees, eating contests or local musicians.
"There's so many local artists around here. The city is just a hotbed of talent. And we want to give those people an audience and an opportunity to show off what they do," White says.
A NATURAL LEADER
Sells got to know White when both participated in Leadership Greater Little Rock.
"Doug knows how to market an event of any nature, but especially one as fun as the Arkansas State Fair," Sells says. "It's so typical of Doug White to look at something that is 80 years old and put a new twist on it."
Driving around the fairgrounds, White points out the different facilities. The main buildings, in addition to Barton Coliseum, include the Hall of Industry, the Arkansas Building and the Equestrian Center. There are barns for cattle, horses, swine and sheep, goats and poultry.
"How does everything look?" White asks while pointing to a barn. "It looks like it needs a fricking coat of paint." He admits that some of the buildings are held together by "duct tape and baling wire."
"Everything is stuck in 1975. Like the newest building I have here is 38 years old. There's a bit of a time warp anyway when you come on the fairgrounds, but we're trying to dress it up a little bit."
During the fair, the back lots will be filled with RVs to house the folks who come in to show their livestock. Carnival workers tend to live in tents. In all, between 5,000 and 10,000 stay on the grounds during the fair.
White grew up in Oklahoma. After getting a degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma, he took a job with the Oklahoma Electric Cooperative. As part of his job, he served as a liaison between the cooperative and the Oklahoma State Fair.
His first day on the job, an ice storm hit and his boss didn't have time to give him any training. White was told to answer media calls and let them know how many people were without power.
"I kept telling people over 80 telephone poles were down. My boss came to me after the second day and said 'What in the hell are you doing? They're not telephone poles, their utility poles.'"
Despite that snafu so early in his career, White worked his way up to assistant manager. His boss, Gary Voight, took the top job at KAMO Electric Cooperative in Vinita, Okla., and hired White as his No. 2 person in charge. After three years, Voight became CEO of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives. A year later, White moved to Little Rock to work for Voight.
"And I've been here ever since," White says. "I love it. I absolutely love Arkansas."
White has two daughters -- Kelsey, 31, and Mackenzie, 28 -- from a previous marriage and three stepchildren -- Casey, 27; Haley, 25; and Jonathan, 23.
"We've got a good How I Met Your Mother story," White says of his wife, Tonya. She was selling advertising for a radio station and was trying to sell an ad to the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives.
"I knew I was going to buy the radio ads, but I wanted to see her again. So I told her that I would consider her proposal if we could have lunch. Then we were married a year later. That was 15 years ago."
White left the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives in 2013 to form a consulting company. He and his wife also bought Contacts Lens Express in Pine Bluff, which Tonya runs. The couple live in White Hall.
At 59, White says he looks at his new job as perhaps "a legacy-building final position." As part of that, he would like to see revitalization in the area around the fairgrounds on Roosevelt Road.
"This area is just so ripe for growth and renewal, and we can play a big part in that. One of my focal points is reaching out to the various community members around here -- the churches and nonprofits -- to let them know that we want to be good stewards and we want this place to grow."
SELF PORTRAIT
Doug White
• DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: Dec. 9, 1959; Tulsa. (My father's brother, Dr. John White, delivered me.)
• MY FAVORITE GUITAR IN MY OFFICE IS: A Les Paul Epiphone signed by Lou Gramm of Foreigner fame.
• MY FAVORITE RIDE ON THE MIDWAY IS: The MegaDrop. Love the phenomenon of zero gravity!
• I GOT NERVOUS WHEN I MET: President Bill Clinton. I mean, who wouldn't be nervous?
• MY FANTASY DINNER PARTY WOULD INCLUDE: I am going with deceased English-speakers. My father, Lloyd; Robin Williams; Winston Churchill; Aretha Franklin; Tom Petty; Amy Winehouse; Muhammad Ali and Anthony Bourdain (who, of course, can cater the dinner!).
• MY CHILDHOOD NICKNAME WAS: Scooter
• MY FIRST CAR WAS A: Baby blue 1970 Ford F-100
• NOW I DRIVE A: Black 2016 Ford F-150
• MY FIRST JOB WAS: My buddy Darren and I mowed lawns the summer of my 10th-grade year in Oklahoma City.
• IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE STATE FAIRGROUNDS IT WOULD BE: Wave a magic wand and make every building, barn and bathroom brand-spanking new!
• MY FAVORITE FAIR FOOD IS: This is such a tough one! Hard to beat a foot-long corn dog.
• TWO THINGS FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT ME: I won a 1967 Mustang Convertible as part of the MTV Back to School promotion in 1987. And I tried stand-up comedy. Tried being the operative word.
• I'VE BEEN TOLD I LOOK LIKE: Glen Campbell
• THE ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Ebullient!
High Profile on 09/15/2019