Andrews has led the National Western Stock Show and Complex since 2010
DENVER, CO – Paul Andrews, president and CEO of the National Western Stock Show and Complex, has announced his retirement after the 2025 National Western Stock Show this January. Andrews will continue as a consultant to the organization after a new president and CEO has been selected.
Andrews’ tenure, which began in November 2010, has been a boon to the Stock Show and the region. He led Stock Show attendance growth to an average of more than 700,000 visitors over the event’s 16-day run each January, with revenues rising accordingly. The number of National Western Complex’s non-Stock Show events more than doubled to 250.
Under Andrews’ leadership, the economic importance of this unparalleled celebration of the West continued to grow: A 2024 Common Sense Institute report pegged the annual regional economic impact of the Stock Show alone at $170 million. At the same time, Andrews strongly supported the National Western’s 501(c)(3) status by championing education and its two scholarship funds, the National Western Scholarship Trust and the National Western Denver Scholarship Program.
Andrews has also played a central role in the conception and development of the National Western Center, a new state-of-the-art home for National Western now being built on the same site as the existing complex. Andrews also serves in the leadership of the Honoring the Legacy campaign, which is raising $150 million to support new National Western facilities.
“Paul’s dedication, energy, and business acumen have been of incalculable value to the National Western’s recent successes,” said Doug Jones, chairman of the Western Stock Show Association board. “His successor has some big boots to fill.”
Andrews, who came to the National Western after rising from entry-level account executive to executive vice president of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), is at home wearing many hats, said Pat Grant, who preceded Andrews as the National Western’s chief executive.
“From one minute to the next, Paul could be talking to a ranch hand, a top executive, or a political leader,” Grant said. “He worked directly with the mayor’s office and Denver City Council on the passage of ballot measure 2C in 2015 to fund the National Western Center and also worked with the Colorado Legislature in 2021 during the pandemic to secure funding for operations and was successful on both counts.”
The board of the Western Stock Show Association, which oversees the National Western, is forming a search committee that will work in tandem with an executive search firm to help identify and select Andrews’ successor. It is anticipated that the new CEO will be in place sometime in the spring or summer of 2025, and Andrews will transition the position over the course of 2025 as we prepare for the January 2026 National Western Stock Show. For inquiries related to the executive search or to submit potential talent, please contact us at [email protected].
About the National Western Stock Show
Established in 1906, the National Western Stock Show is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides college and graduate-level scholarships in agricultural science, business, and rural medicine. Our mission is to serve producers and consumers worldwide by being the premier annual livestock show and center for year-round events. The 16-day show in January also serves as an entertainment arena, hosting one of the world’s richest regular-season professional rodeos, world-class horse shows, family educational events, and Colorado’s largest western trade show. For more information, visit nationalwestern.com.