Matt Valiquette

ESCANABA — Matt Valiquette was nominated for UPBT’s Business Person of the Year in recognition of his exceptional professionalism, courteous demeanor, and unwavering dedication to his role at the U.P. State Fairgrounds. His strong organizational skills and tireless work ethic have significantly contributed to the success and smooth operation of the fairgrounds, making him a vital asset to the community. Matt Valiquette’s leadership and commitment reflect the values celebrated by this award, and his impact continues to be felt across the region. Dawn Lapine of the Daily Press conducted an interview with Valiquette to learn more about the man behind the nomination.

Q. How did you feel when you heard you were UPBT’s Business Person of the Year?

I thought you guys were messing with me a little bit.

A. No, I was surprised, honored, flattered, wonder what I did to deserve such special recognition.

Describe your work at the fairgrounds over the past year?

We’ve just got a great team of professionals that are dedicated to making improvements on the grounds and ensuring the fairgoers and the folks that are using the grounds enjoy their experience here so we’re just a real great team effort.

Q. What accomplishments would you like to highlight?

A. I think just that, you know, building the team, we’ve got, you know, mostly on our maintenance and grounds crew, mostly retired former tradesmen, so they bring a tremendous amount of experience and wisdom and skill sets. And so my job is to simply give them the resources to do the work and then stay out of their way.

Q. What is your favorite aspect of your job?

A. The one thing that has impressed me the most since joining this team is just the diverse group of folks that come to the grounds and use our facilities. They’re so passionate about their respective hobbies or projects, whether it be on the agricultural side, you know, the motor sports side, you know, the craft shows, the wildlife and outdoor events.It’s just so diverse and that’s pretty cool to see. It’s just a virtual melting pot, not just for the Upper Peninsula, but the entire state of Michigan and the Northeast Wisconsin.

Q. What is a common misconception you would like to clear up?

A. Well, I think when you drive by here, by the fairgrounds, you immediately think of the week of the fair. And that was certainly the case with me before coming here to work. But we’ve got an amazing array of different events taking place here all the time. So I think that’s the thing that is lost on a lot of people is just all the different events that take place here throughout the year. So all 52 weeks, not just the one week of the fair.

Q. Is there anything exciting at the fairgrounds that you would like to share?

A. We’re getting ready to kick off. So this is the last year of the Krusin’ Klassics Fun Run, As we knew it over the last 40 years here on the grounds, we’re excited about that. We’ve got some major events here, the Logging Congress, the timber professionals are coming back again this year. We’ve got a full schedule of Esky motor speedway racing. So, and our equestrian events have really picked up pace and so we’re investing in our equestrian center and improving the surface and the lighting across the grounds. So, we just really have a lot going on and we’re really building up to the 100th UP State Fair, which is going to be coming up in a couple of years. So, we’re really already beginning to planning for that major milestone event.

Q. What does being UPBT Business Person of the Year mean to you?

A. I’m gonna have to think about that a little bit. I don’t know to be honest because it was so unexpected. I’m honored.

Q. Finally, anything you would like to add or make the community aware of?

A. Thank you so much for the recognition. Clearly this award is about, you know, the team that we have assembled here from Vickie Micheau, who’s my boss, and leads all of our efforts and our grounds crew to, you know, our reception staff, and our UP State Fair authority, none of this would be possible if we weren’t all working together, and so that’s the most rewarding aspect of any of this.