Made In Oklahoma Vendors Offer Online Shopping Since Tulsa State Fair Is Canceled

For some folks the Tulsa State Fair is about one thing: locally made products.

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The Made In Oklahoma section is a Tulsa State Fair tradition. It spans three decades, giving homegrown Sooner State businesses a place to really shine.

It's set up every year in the Exchange Center. It's a place for business owners to get face-to-face interaction with customers and reach a new audience. It's also where thousands of people go to get their fix on local flavor and flare.

"If you taste the salsa or smell the candle or feel that wood product, you're a lot more likely to buy. So, personal interaction is so important to our vendors," said Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry Development Director Meriruth Cohenour.

The Department of Ag makes it affordable for Oklahoma business owners. The agency rents the space at the Exchange Center, then rents it back to about 50 local businesses at a lower price.

"They have just been a wonderful support," said Dawn Chesser.

Dawn and her husband, Craig, own Sixth Day Snacks. They make healthy snacks like, salsa, granola bits, hummus, and jalapenos. The couple had a booth in the MIO section for the first time last year.

"That was awesome," Dawn said.

"11 Days of Awesome, right," her husband added.

"Their tagline was 11 Days of Awesome, and we called it 11 days of exhaustion by the end of it," said Dawn while laughing.

A picture of Dawn asleep in the lobby is proof of how worn she was by the end of it. But the hard work was worth every second. It was their biggest, and best, sales event of the year.

"There were some people at the fair that would come to the Exchange Center, would skip the big building, and come specifically to the Exchange Center for the Made In Oklahoma and would tell us that's what they come for every year," said Dawn.

The Department of Ag created the Made In Oklahoma program in the 1990s to help support ag products. At that time, it was mostly food made from things grown in Oklahoma, like Head Country Barbeque, which has been a staple of the MIO section at the fair for many years.

"I think if they're from California they couldn't care less, but the Oklahoma people love the idea of everything being from Oklahoma. They like to purchase Oklahoma products, that's all over," a Head Country worker said in a 1996 News On 6 interview.

And over the past 30 years, the Okie love, and featured products, have only grown.

"Food, candles, woodworking, metal shop--just about anything you can think of that can be made here," said Cohenour.

The fair cancelling in 2020 will have an impact not only on local business, but also the Tulsa economy.

"Just the sheer volume of business that it brings to the local economy. In some regard, yes it's definitely effecting us small businesses, but it's effecting the Tulsa economy on a much greater scale [with] having to make that decision," said Craig. "We're gonna miss it this year, but we really hope and pray [that] it's back next year and are really looking forward to being a part of it.'

The Department of Ag has created an online store that gives folks a one-stop shop for Made In Oklahoma products. It's a great alternative, though nothing compares to meeting customers face-to-face.  

"I think it's really fun too when people try to extra hot [salsa] to see their reaction," Dawn said with a big smile on her face. "We're very grateful for the community here in Oklahoma, and the value that they see in the local businesses."