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78 Wines&Vines February 2015 wine industry news wine east C olumbus, Ohio—Every- one in the wine industry knows that it takes one set of skills to grow grapes and another skill set to make wine. Conferences, seminars and workshops across the country regularly address a multitude of issues from planting the first vine to selling the bottled, corked and labeled wine. Donniella Winchell, executive director of the Ohio Wine Produc- ers Association (OWPA), recog- nized that few conferences were paying much attention to the business components of getting into the wine industry. On Feb. 15, the OWPA will hold a full-day workshop at the Dublin Crowne Plaza just north of Columbus, Ohio, to offer in- sights into the business of wine business. OWPA has held regional "Sit, Sip and Learn" programs for several years, but the Feb. 15 workshop will be the group's first to focus entirely on the business side of wine. The workshop is designed to assist people who have planted vineyards or opened wineries in the past five years, and those who are thinking about how to get into the wine industry. Sessions will feature short presentations offering advice and counsel on the business aspects of running a successful winery. The audience will then have the opportunity to interact with speakers and with a "headline panel" of successful winery own- ers and winemakers from large and small wineries, newly estab- l i s h e d o r l o n g - t i m e w i n e businesses. The panel will be composed of Jim Arbaczewski, sales man- ager at Ferrante Wine Farm; Wal- ter Borda, an attorney and owner o f C a e s a r C r e e k Vi n e y a r d s ; Donna Roberts, owner and pur- chasing manager, Terra Cotta Vineyards; Joe Schuchter, direc- tor of marketing and sales at Val- ley Vineyards Farm; Bob Tebeau, winemaker and owner of Cha- teau Tebeau Winery; and Ed Tre- bets, winemaker at Debonne Vineyards. Topics will include building design and local regulations; business considerations including finding an attorney and an ac- countant as well as determining insurance needs; compliance with TTB, FDA, EPA and other government agencies; tasting room layout and design as well as staff hiring and training; and marketing topics such as social media, print advertising and spe- cial events. "One of the goals of the work- shop is to help people develop the skills to ask the right questions of an accountant or a lawyer, and if you have an issue, how you should approach someone like a regulator," Winchell said. Attendees from outside Ohio are welcome. The cost for the workshop is $100 per business for the first person, $25 for each additional person from the same business, plus $25 per attendee for lunch. A wine industry mixer will follow the workshop. The wine business workshop is the "Preview Day" program for the 2015 Ohio Grape and Wine Conference taking place at the same location Feb.16-17. The Ohio Grape Industries Commit- tee; Ohio State University Exten- sion/OARDC; and the OWPA organize the annual conference. Additional information about both the wine business workshop and the conference is available at tasteohiowines.com. —Linda Jones McKee One-Day Seminar for Ohio Wine Business Newcomers - B E C O PA D - Y E A S T & E N Z Y M E S - C R U S H PA D E Q U I P M E N T - S T E R I L E F I LT R AT I O N - W I N E R Y H O S E - O A K A LT E R N AT I V E S Case By Case Wine and Grape Supplier Your Source for World Class Wine Grapes and Bulk Wines Serving wineries nationwide on a Case By Case basis East and West Coast varieties available: R Winegrapes R Bulk Wine R Juice R Shiners Jim, Owner Northern California Office (707) 671-4126 • jim@casebycasebrokers.com Tom, Domestic and International Sales Southeast Office (864) 401-2297 • tom@casebycasebrokers.com www.casebycasebrokers.com EASTERN WINE LABS Serving the Analytical needs of East Coast Wineries WWW.EASTERNWINELABS.COM Ph 609-859-4302 Cell 609-668-2854 chemist@easternwinelabs.com AOAC Member EasternWineLab_Mar09.qxp 1/22/09 9:47 AM Page 1 Walter Borda of Caesar Creek Vine- yards will join the headline panel.