Iowa State Fair CEO Jeremy Parsons to be Rural-Urban Day Keynote Speaker
The Waterloo Rotary Club’s 2025 Rural-Urban Day will be March 31. This annual event gives our members the opportunity to interact with our Cedar Valley agriculture community at the beginning of their busy spring season and thank them for all they do to feed, clothe and support us and our world. Rotarians can sponsor farmers or agriculture professionals for $25 per person. You are also welcome to sponsor a table (ask about this opportunity). Make plans to invite your agriculture friends, or we will also provide new friends for you to meet and connect with. Larry Steffens and his committee will be at meetings up until a week before the event, or contact Larry by email with your intentions.
Jeremy Parsons’ professional life came full circle in 2023 when he was named CEO of the world-renowned Iowa State Fair.
He was first introduced to fair management in elementary school by writing a letter to then-Iowa State Fair Manager Marion Lucas. Since that moment, his life and fairs have intersected in a variety of ways, even during his initial career as a high school teacher and coach.
Starting when he was a teen, his 30 years of fair experience has included stints as a volunteer at the Decatur County Fair (IA), a seasonal employee at the Iowa and Missouri state fairs, Executive Director of the Missouri State Fair Foundation, and CEO/Manager of the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa.
An active community and fair industry advocate, Parsons currently serves on the Catch Des Moines Board, the Iowa Tourism Advisory Group, and the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) Foundation Board. He served as Chairman of the IAFE in 2022 and is past president of the Mid-West Fairs Association.
Originally from Leon, Iowa, he has four priorities in life, which he attempts to keep in the proper order -- faith, family, the Chicago Cubs, and fairs. He and his beautiful wife Kelsi have three sons.
