Kim Carey, the sponsorship and sales manager for the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association, spoke to Rotary about how she and her husband, BJ Carey, put beans on the table after selling their chuckwagon outfit at last year’s Lloyd Finals. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Chuckwagon races and sponsorships go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.
That goes for the upcoming North American Chuckwagon Championship (NACC) in Lloydminster July 8-17 and the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) Lloydminster Finals Aug. 17-21.
That point was made clear by Kim Carey, sponsorship and sales manager for the (CPCA) speaking about her role at the Rotary Club of Lloydminster lunch on Monday.
Kim and her husband, BJ Carey, ran a chuckwagon outfit themselves for 17 years and know sponsorship money is what keeps the sport going on the track and organization levels.
“I sell for the association, not the individual tarp sponsors,” she explained.
“I have packages based on different amounts to spend. We have radio ads because we broadcast live; we have our website with all different events, we have tickets that allow you to come to live events, tickets for the VIP tent for food and drinks.”
Tarp packages on the other hand are between the sponsor and the driver.
“I also sell sponsorship for the NACC which is the new chuckwagon show we put on here during the Calgary Stampede.
“This year, we’re going to be broadcasting our event live from here. So that’s another huge thing for sponsors, drivers, and everybody. We’re hoping to make it bigger and better.”
The CPCA is also looking for volunteers to help out.
Both of the events in Lloydminster will have 32 to 36 wagons.
The New Lloydminster Nissan is the title sponsor for the CPCA finals on a three-year term with an SUV going to the champion this year.
Kim says the more sponsorships the better as they are still trying to recover from the impact of COVID as a non-profit organization.
“With the sponsorship of wagons, I find a lot of the sponsors have become like family,” she said.
“It’s just basically to help businesses see the value in ours as well as hockey and as well as baseball and all the other organizations around.”
She says it’s a great job when you’re passionate about the sport as she is with her dad Brian Laboucane being a driver for 45 years and lots of local enthusiasts around.
“We have a lot of drivers that are fairly local around here and a lot of rural people who enjoy wagons. I think everyone becomes invested in the drivers and the sport itself,” she said.
Kim was the office manager at CPCA for nearly six years, but gave up that part of the job along with racing when she and her husband bought McConnell Transport in 2020 to put beans on the table when COVID hit.
“We had to re-evaluate what we were doing,” she explained.
“We love wagons, but unfortunately with COVID and no income coming in and just expenses going out, it was a big toll.”
They decided to run one more year and sold their outfit at last year’s Lloyd finals to Ray Croteau Jr. to put trucking on the front burner.
“We haul wood products, sawdust, shavings, and peelings. We have lots of oilfield, agricultural and landscaping companies that we haul too,” said Kim.
“When we started we had about three to four trucks going and now we have nine-10 trucks going daily. We’ve been busy.”