WESTLAKE, Ohio — Adam Roggenburk considers himself a Clevelander through and through.
“Still in Avon Lake. Went to St. Ignatius, went to John Carroll, went to Cleveland State for my master's. So I am about as bred Cleveland as you can get,” he told 3News anchor Dave Chudowsky in a recent interview.
And it’s clear, Roggenburk wants to make sure his city is at the top of the game. He owns USA Expositions, the marketing company that produces events like the increasingly popular Oktoberfest - a two-weekend long cultural festival celebrating German culture and heritage through food, performances, games, and of course, beer.
It’s clear Roggenburk is well on the way to that goal. In September, Cleveland Oktoberfest was named the best in the U.S. in a USA Today Readers’ Choice 2023 poll.
“Being number one in the United States means that we're going to get more people here into the city. We're going to help change the environment, change the look, make Cleveland look bigger and better than it is. And I think that's really important to me,” Roggenburk said.
Roggenburk is the Chief Operating Officer of USA Expositions, the company behind other well-known immersive event experiences, like Dingus Day, which he says also continues to grow, last year drawing more than 40,000 attendees.
“It has really become another Polish celebration in the city of Cleveland the day after Easter, another event that we've been ranked one of the top in the country for.”
Roggenburk’s success is particularly impressive considering the obstacles he has overcome – the family business, started with his father, was almost crushed by the Great Recession.
“I remember in 2008, we were sitting in our office and my dad looked at us and said, we had 30 days or we were going to go bankrupt,” he recalled.
But they pushed through, launching the National Home and Garden Show series and by 2017, the company was handling over 100 events a year. Then Covid hit, stopping the industry in its tracks.
“I didn't know what we were going to do. And knowing that there were local companies out there that were going through the same thing that we were, and to sit here and say that U s A today has ranked us the number one October Fest, and all these companies like Sibling [Revelry] are a part of it, and Great Lakes and all these other breweries and restaurants, to me what Northeast Ohio is about, fighting hard through everything,” Roggenburk said.
It's those challenges, he says, that are now inspiring the next stage for Roggenburk and USA Expo.
“We're always going to start our new ideas here in Northeast Ohio. And I think that that's important to me. We have the backing of the community. They know the events that we produce. They know what we bring to our events, and we're really looking forward to moving forward into a different season.”
Roggenburk tells 3News a new event called Christmas Around the World is now in the works.
“We're going to try to take all the different demographics, what you see at Denga Day from the Polish heritage, from the German Heritage October Fest, and just really tie in education. My wife's a school teacher, so tying education to what you see at Oktoberfest from hitting all five senses, making it immersive from the food to the entertainment, to the drinks, to the lights,” he said.
It’s a vision that Roggenburk says starts here in Cleveland, and hopes to spread nationwide.
“I think the magic is honestly creating an experience that you can't find anywhere else... and I think that that is the differentiator in the events that we produce, is providing value and a time for families to go out and remember.”
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