NEWS

FFA convention returns to Indy next week and will bring 64,000 visitors with it

Kris Turner
kris.turner@indystar.com
Delegates to the National FFA Convention from LaVille High School in St. Joseph County, Ind., walk through Downtown Indianapolis heading back to the Indiana Convention Center on Oct. 20, 2010, the opening day of that year's convention.

The National FFA Organization is expected to draw 64,000 visitors and $36.2 million in business when its annual convention returns to Indianapolis this week.

The event, which runs from Oct. 19-22, is slated to remain in Indianapolis through 2024 because of a $4.5 million, nine-year agreement signed with the state last year. The FFA organization, which promotes farm education, will receive $500,000 in incentives each year the event is held in the Hoosier state.

“We are very excited to be back in Indiana for the next nine years,” FFA spokeswoman Kristy Meyer said.

The convention previously had been scheduled to occur in Indianapolis from 2016-18. It was slated to rotate between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky., until the end of the decade.

The FFA conference is expected to sprawl across Downtown and includes events at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center. It also will include festivities at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and eight hotels.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence thanks the National FFA during a ceremony on July 15, 2015, announcing that the National FFA's youth convention will be held for nine straight years in Indianapolis from 2016-2024. The announcement was made at the National FFA Organization headquarters at 6060 FFA Dr., Indianapolis.

Indianapolis was large enough to host the convention and FFA membership, both of which have continued to grow, Meyer said.

“The organization wants to ensure that our students have the opportunity to attend the national convention and expo,” she said. “Indianapolis has the meeting space required to meet the needs of FFA as well as the hotel rooms needed within a 40-mile radius.”

The FFA convention was held in Louisville in 2015. Indianapolis had previously hosted it from 2006 to 2012.

The FFA, which is based in Indianapolis, had decided in 2009 to rotate its convention between Louisville and Indianapolis every three years.

The loss of the FFA convention, one of the biggest plums in the tourism business, was a huge blow to Louisville's prestige and tourism-related revenues, said Linda Edwards, fair board vice president of marketing and general manager of the Kentucky International Convention Center. The lack of a luxury hotel near the Kentucky Exposition Center, where the convention had been located, and a dearth of double-occupancy hotel rooms within a 40-mile radius were concerns of the FFA, Edwards said.

“We are proud that National FFA has called Indianapolis home since 1998, and we are excited to welcome the National FFA Convention & Expo back for the next nine years,” said Chris Gahl, senior vice president of Visit Indy.

The National FFA Organization represents 610,240 student members across 7,665 local chapters in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

“The National FFA Convention & Expo, much like the National FFA headquarters, is right at home here in Indiana,” Gov. Mike Pence said in July after the FFA announced its partnership with the state. “Indiana is ready and committed to support this event and welcome with open arms the 64,000 FFA members who will come to our capital city each of the next nine years.”

Call IndyStar reporter Kris Turner at (317) 444-6047. Follow him on Twitter: @krisnturner.

State’s 9-year, $4.5M deal keeps FFA convention in Indy