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Cal Expo To Lay Off Over Half Of Its Full-Time Employees

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Over half of Cal Expo's full-time employees are being laid off due to huge financial losses, officials confirmed Friday.

In a statement issued Friday, facility officials blamed the layoffs on a large drop in revenue that "devastated" their reserves.

The statement reads, in part:

"Due to the cancellation of the State Fair and other events held at our facilities, Cal Expo has lost 81% of our revenue for the year. California Exposition and State Fair is an unfunded State Agency that relies solely on the revenue generated from year-round events and the California State Fair. The impacts of COVID-19 have devastated our reserves."

All of the Cal Expo workers have been notified.

Layoffs will go into effect on November 12.

Cal Expo Generates more than $300 million a year into the local economy and the state fair is a large portion of that.

In April, the Cal Expo board of directors voted unanimously to cancel the 2020 edition of the State Fair over challenges resulting from the coronavirus outbreak and social distancing guidelines put in place.

Additionally, other local fairs were canceled, including the Sacramento County Fair, San Joaquin County Fair, and Stanislaus County Fair. All three are scheduled to resume in 2021.

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