The North Dakota State Fair has grown and improved in its 50-year history, and MSI Service and Solutions has grown and improved right along with it.

Started in 1955 as M&S Concessions, MSI has operated on the fairgrounds for about the past 55 years and has been a vendor at 49 State Fairs.

MSI co-owner Jeff Miller, Bismarck, remembers the early years of participation in the State Fair, when the company operated a concession stand in the Teen Tent, north of the grandstand. It later operated in the small, wooden grandstand that once existed on the fairgrounds.

“Everything out here was gravel and dirt,” Miller said. The paving of the midway was a “big, big upgrade,” he said.

Facilities for food services also have improved from the days when the only water supply was one spigot of cold water and any refrigeration was done over ice. Today MSI has 11 walk-in coolers and freezers and a large menu that goes beyond the hotdogs and popcorn that was once the staple.

“When the new grandstand was built, it greatly expanded the food and beverage area and it made a big difference,” Miller said. “The whole atmosphere is so much better.”

His original partner, Bill Slater, the S in M&S Concessions, had been a stickler for sanitation despite the conditions, but today’s modern facilities make food safety so much easier. Miller bought out Slater in 1968. M&S Concessions remains the corporate name, although the trade name has changed to MSI, and Miller is one of five co-owners.

M&S Concessions, initially a soft drink sales company, gravitated toward the fair through its association with Nodak racing, which got its start on North Hill. When the races moved to the fairgrounds, M&S followed.

The company established permanent headquarters in the State Fair Center two years after the center opened as the All Seasons Arena in 1975. The fair isn’t the biggest event for MSI in the State Fair Center because the center hosts many events each year and some are quite large. As a grounds-wide event, though, nothing beats the fair. MSI gears up with both food and staff to provide service both in the fair center and in the new grandstand built in 2010.

“We hire a lot of staff everywhere. We are open a lot more hours than we would be for many events,” Miller said. “Our total staffing during the fair is in the hundreds. We have a lot of the same people come back. They have worked for us for years. They work their vacations around it. We have probably 50 people come back every year and work at the fair.”

Groups of volunteers also work to raise money for their nonprofit organizations. Over the years, many people have earned the right to say they had a role in M&S or MSI.

“You run into a lot of people who say it was their first job and they remember it. It’s good training. You learn to deal with people. You learn to handle food. You learn to operate under pressure. You learn to satisfy the customer,” Miller said.

These days, many of fair’s food vendors are family operations now into their second or third generation. Miller’s son, Hans, also is involved in MSI’s operation.

“It’s really quite spectacular what the fair has done with the independent food court,” Miller said. “It’s as good a food court as you will see anywhere. The people who are there keep upgrading. There’s all kinds of new products.”

Planning for the fair is a year-round activity, and MSI experiments with foods in the off-season to be able to offer something new each year. This year it’s the pickle rolled in pastrami. MSI also competes in the Food Frenzy competition and had won second place for two consecutive years with its Italian Stallion meatballs on a stick with marinara and mozzarella and chicken-fried steak sandwich with gravy and fries on top.

This is only the second year that Miller hasn’t spent all nine days at the State Fair. He’s cut back to six or seven days, although it’s not a sign he’s enjoying the fair any less.

“The North Dakota State Fair is a great event,” Miller said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s educational. It’s entertaining, and it’s a big showcase. I am a believer in fairs.”