Around the Carousel - Circling Our Industry With the OABA

Larry Yaffe is President and CEO of ESY Financial with 27 years of experience in equipment lending.  Under his leadership, hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment loans have been funded for the travelling carnival industry. Larry served as the Treasurer of the OABA for several years and was the OABA Chair in 2019.  He is currently an OABA Trustee and serves on the Executive Committee.

Gregg Hartley serves as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Husch Blackwell Strategies with forty years of insider experience at all levels of government and politics. He’s been recognized as one of the “Top Hired Guns” in Washington by The Hill newspaper in its exclusive list of the best lobbyists in D.C. His success and proven leadership includes managing a House leadership office, guiding one of Washington’s premier lobbying firms, devising political tactics, shepherding political campaigns and deploying successful legislative strategies. 

Since 2004, Cindy Hoye has served as the Executive Director of the Indiana State Fair Commission. Appointed by the governor, Hoye has overseen growth in not just the Fair itself, but the 1,000,000 square feet of facilities that serve as an anchor of the Indianapolis community.  Hoye’s mission today, is to spread the love she had as a child. With less than 2% of the population living or working on farms today, the Fair is more than livestock. And the fairgrounds are more than just event space for two weeks of competitions and exhibitions of animals.

Drew Tewksbury is dedicated to understanding, educating and protecting his clients. His experience running festivals and fairs, working on and inspecting amusement rides and developing safety standards provides him with a fundamental understanding of this unique business. Drew is a nationally certified amusement ride safety officer and inspector. When something has gone wrong, clients know they can count on Drew to show up—even at two in the morning. Drew has created, led and grown several of the amusement industry's most successful insurance and risk management programs and is a nationally recognized expert in amusement safety. 

Prior to his promotion to the office of President of Gold Medal in 2017, Adam Browning served in the dual role of Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He has been with the company since 2010 bringing his law background to the industry and working intimately in all aspects of the business. In this podcast with Adam, you will hear about his life leading up to where he is today and his love of the mobile amusement industry. 

The Vice President for Client Relations for N.A.M.E., Scooter Korek has been in the carnival industry for 43 years. Listen to the discussion and hear what he has to say about getting back on the road after the Covid pandemic and what challenges they have faced to date both in Canada and the US.

From Medical Technology research to co-owner of Powers Great American Midways, Debbie Powers has been part of the outdoor amusement industry for most of her life. Now in her 2nd year as Chair of the OABA, she shares her thoughts about the carnival industry with President & CEO, Greg Chiecko in the 1st of our podcasts.