Kent Hojem

CEO of Washington State Fair

Board Member

Biography

Kent Hojem joined the Washington State Fair in March 1996, and has been Chief Executive Officer since January 2005. He oversees all operations of the Fair and Fair properties. Those operations include one of the top attended fairs in the world, the Washington State Fair, which is held in September, as well as the Washington State Spring Fair each April. Kent is also involved with Oktoberfest, a joint venture project, as well as all interim rental activities that occur at the Washington State Fair Events Center throughout the year. He also serves as secretary of the Washington State Fair Foundation. Prior to taking on the role, Kent was Assistant Fair Manager, overseeing all operations. His background in fair management is extensive, having been manager of the Thurston County Fair for ten years, and another ten years prior to that as assistant manager of the Southwest Washington Fair. Kent is a past chairman and a current board president of the Washington State 4-H Foundation and has served on the board since 2004. He has been involved in numerous youth and livestock committees and foundations over the years, including serving as a former chairman of the North Thurston Vocational Agriculture Advisory Committee, and as a member of the Pacific NW Livestock Judging School steering committee. He has served as chairman of Communities In Schools of Puyallup and served on the board from 2005 to 2020, and was a past board member of Communities In Schools of Washington. He has served on the board of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) since 2009, and served as its chairman in 2016. In 2019, Kent was inducted into the IAFE Hall of Fame. Kent is a past chairman and director of the Western Fairs Association, and served as president of Washington State Fairs Association in 1995 and was recognized as the Washington State Fairs Association Lifetime Achievement award recipient in 2021. He has also held other board positions, such as the Tacoma Convention Bureau, Fred Oldfield Western Art History Museum, past president of the Puyallup Main Street Association and the past president of the Puyallup-Sumner Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Lodging Tax Advisory committee of Puyallup. Kent is a Senior Fellow and alumni of the American Leadership Forum, and was a participant in the 2005–2006 class. Kent was born and raised near Chehalis, Washington where he showed dairy cattle in 4-H. He was a mathematical sciences major at Stanford University. Kent and his wife Carolyn live in Puyallup, and are surrounded by family, including Criss (wife, Andie) and Trent (wife, Toni), and four grandchildren: Tucker, Sydney, Monica, and Mackenzie.