Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/573907
20 WINES&VINES October 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS S eattle, Wash.—Stunning double-digit growth for Washington's wine industry is again the takeaway from what the Wash- ington State Wine Commission touts as "the most accurate economic impact analysis of its type." The state's wine industry had an impact of $4.8 billion in 2013, up 37.1% from $3.5 bil- lion in 2009, according to a study prepared by the Seattle consulting firm Community Attri- butes Inc. (CAI) and vetted by William Beyers, a professor emeritus at the University of Wash- ington known for his influential work in eco- nomic analysis. The direct business revenues underpin- ning those impacts increased 39.6% to $2.4 billion in 2013 from $1.7 billion in 2009. Comparisons with the numbers presented in the previous three analyses of the industry's impact on the state's economy are difficult, if not impossible, due to the different methodolo- gies each author used. A study by MKF Research of St. Helena, Calif., prepared for the commission using data from 2006 pegged the impact of the state's 437 wineries that year at $3 billion. The new study includes approximately 800 wineries and pegs the impact in 2013 at $4.5 billion. Yet the amount is approximately half the stunning $8.6 billion figure that Stonebridge Research of Napa, Calif., attributed to the sec- tor in 2012 using 2010 data. Stonebridge principal Barbara Insel said differences in methodology will occur, but as long as a report is comprehensive and transpar- ent in its methods and data, readers can assess individual reports on their own merits. Discrepancies between the two reports are most evident in the estimated impact of the sector but also include more concrete matters such as winery visits and employment. Stone- bridge estimated approximately 2.4 million winery visits in 2010, while the current study suggests that winery visits totaled just 2.1 mil- lion in 2013. Similarly, employment at wineries and vineyards is down by a few hundred people— though it should be up. The previous report calculated full-time equivalent (FTE) posi- tions, whereas CAI counted each job—full- time or part-time—as one position. While the discrepancies may raise eye- brows, CAI senior economist Spencer Cohen said CAI crunched 2009 data to enable direct comparisons within its own report. For ex- ample, total wine industry employment rose from 18,700 in 2009 to 25,900 in 2013, ac- cording to the numbers and methodology CAI worked with—a 38.5 % increase, consistent with the sector's own growth. The consistency in trends cheers Warner, who deems the sector's future, "very, very bright." —Peter Mitham Washington Revisits Economic Impact of Wine and Grape Industry WASHINGTON STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 2006 2010 2013 Winery revenue $437.6 M $1.0 B $1.8 B Harvested tonnage 120,000 160,000 210,000 Price per ton $942 $1,040 $1,110 Total sector em- ployment (in-state) 18,865 29,672 25,900 Total sector impact (in-state) $2.9 B $8.6 B $4.5 B Source: MKF Research (2006); Stonebridge Research (2010); Community Attributes Inc. (2013)