Businesses Frustrated After Not Receiving Payment For Working 918 Food Festival

Some local businesses are frustrated because they say they haven't been paid yet for helping put together the 918 Food Festival in Tulsa last month.

That festival brought lots of food trucks, live music, and vendors to town in September, but some folks are still waiting to be paid.

Many business owners said they were promised payments, but checks have bounced, and they’re still out thousands of dollars.

"It was great last year; it was our first big event," said Bryce Cox.

Bryce Cox was getting his family-owned inflatables business off the ground last year and the 918 Food Festival was his first big chance to do that.

He said it was a success, so he got back in touch with the organizer Alexander Tyler this year to provide the equipment again.

“He told me he would have a check on the day of delivery, which he did," Bryce said, "but the check bounced.”

Bryce said it’s been nearly two months since the festival and he’s only been paid a few small amounts and is still out a couple thousand dollars, which is money his family needs.

And he’s not alone.

Several musicians said they weren’t paid and the company owner who provided port-a-potties said he’s also out about $2000 from the event.

“If we're a small business owner trying to help out, and we're out cost and money, it'll hurt us, period," said Jacqueline Quinnett with End to End Branding.

Jacqueline Quinnett owns End to End branding and designed the banners and t-shirts for the 2022 event. She said she was paid for those but told to order prizes and wasn't paid for them, so she couldn't order them, which reflected poorly on her company.

"For me, it was more about the reputation," she said.

We interviewed Alexander Tyler last year before the first food festival.

An affidavit shows Alexander Tyler was charged right before the festival in August, with embezzling $7,500 from The Route 66 Village where he hosted the first food festival.

It says he was fired after months of irregularities in the company’s income and admitted to taking the money from the nonprofit.

News on 6 talked to Tyler on the phone Tuesday and he said he had trouble making payments because lots of businesses pulled out of the festival, and he was relying on that income.

He said these festivals are expensive to organize and take a few years to get off the ground.

He said he is in touch with everyone who wasn’t paid last year and this year and is working to pay them back, but he doesn’t know when that will be.