As we approach the final days of harvest with activity on the press pads slowing and the juice finding a temporary home in tanks, hopefully many in our industry are able to stop and take a quick breath of air before we find ourselves in the fury of the holiday season. This period presents a good time for all of us to begin thinking about our 2021 strategies and plans. The NYWGF team and I will be unveiling, later this fall, a new two-year marketing strategy for New York grapes and wines. This strategy will help the organization prioritize how we allocate our budget on an annual basis to elevate the image of the New York grape and wine industry globally. You can learn more about the proposed strategy during my next Fireside Chat on October 29 at 4pm.
I also want to bring attention to the capacity building resources available to the industry to assist them with strategy planning for 2021 and beyond. We have established partnerships with DTC Wine Workshops and the WISE Academy to provide educational workshops on how to maximize brand building and sales opportunities in the growing ecommerce space. Our Financial Help Desk with our Business Associate Member Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co., LLP provides NYWGF members with resources to tackle the complex issues of alcohol regulations and excise taxes, tax credits, tax preparation, grant applications, business planning, and more. These are just two examples of how NYWGF is supporting the growth of the grape and wine industry through our new membership program.
On a more serious note, COVID infections continue to rise in the United States and our neighboring states of Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have reached infection rates that trigger travel advisories from New York State. Governor Cuomo addressed this situation yesterday in a new press release, “…given the interconnected nature of the region and mode of transport between us, a quarantine on these states is not practically viable. That said, New York State highly discourages, to the extent practical, non-essential travel to and from these states while they meet the travel advisory criteria.” Governor Cuomo intends to provide more specifics on the definition of “non-essential travel” later today. We will post more up-to-date info in our Industry Facebook group as it becomes available.
If you need something to put a smile on your face as you finish your harvest or munch on those last concord grapes from the farmers market, I highly recommend a new podcast, “SmartLess” with actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. They recently interviewed Will Farrell and he discussed his brief stint as an incapable bank teller. I laughed so hard that I was too incapacitated to keep driving!
