LWC Board Mtg (2/19)

Lodi Winegrape Commission
Meeting Notice and Agenda
Sent and Posted February 9, 2015

The Lodi Winegrape Commission will meet:

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2015
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: The Cellar Room, Wine & Roses, 2505 West Turner Road, Lodi, CA

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

1. Call to order

2. Roll call and establishment of quorum

3. Review of the January 15, 2015 Minutes
• Action Item

4. Financial Report, January 2015
• Action Item

5. Chairman’s Report

6. Report of Committees
• Bylaws and Policy Review Ad Hoc Committee
a. Progress update
• Executive Committee – Action Item
a. Visitor Center project
• Grower Marketing
• Lodi Rules
• Research/Education/Communication
• Lodi Wine Country

7. Executive Director’s Report

8. Report of other organizations
• California Wine Education Foundation
• San Joaquin County Farm Bureau
• Lodi District Grape Growers Association

9. Closed session to discuss pending litigation. Pursuant to Section 11126(e) of the California Government Code.

10. Closed session regarding the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, or dismissal of an employee pursuant to Section 11126(a) of the California Government Code.

11. Return to open session.

12. Set next meeting date.

13. Adjourn

All agenda items are subject to discussion and possible action. For more information, or to make a request regarding a disability-related accommodation for the meeting, please contact Camron King (209-367-4727) or Craig Ledbetter (209-334-6975). The notice and agenda is available on the internet at www.lodiwine.com in the Grower News, Meetings and Events section.

Lodi Winegrape Commission
Meeting Minutes – DRAFT
January 15, 2015

The Lodi Winegrape Commission met on Thursday, January 15, 2015 in the Cellar Room at Wine & Roses, 2505 West Turner Road, Lodi, CA 95242.

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Craig Ledbetter at 2:05 pm.

Roll was called. In attendance were Chairman Craig Ledbetter, John Anagnos, Lee Caton (acting as Commissioner for Stanton Lange for the start of the meeting), Kevin Delu, Bruce Fry, John Graffigna, Stanton Lange (joined the meeting at 2:15 pm), Robert Lauchland, Galen Schmiedt and Todd Williams (acting as Commissioner for Ed Van Diemen). Alternates present were Kendra Altnow, Pieter den Hartog, Ben Kolber, Richard Lauchland, and John Shinn. Others present were Kathy Diaz-Cretu, ex-officio representing the California Department of Food & Agriculture and California Wine Education Foundation Vice Chair Steve Quashnick. Staff present: Camron King, Executive Director and Stuart Spencer, LWC Program Manager. A quorum was established.

Minutes of the December 18, 2014 meeting were approved on a motion by Robert Lauchland/Fry. (Exhibit A). The aye votes were: Anagnos, Caton, Delu, Fry, Graffigna, Robert Lauchland, Ledbetter, Schmiedt and Williams. There were no “no” votes. Motion carried.

Financial Report – The Financial Statement for December 2014 and the 2nd Quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal year were presented and discussed by Treasurer Galen Schmiedt (Exhibit B). On a motion by Graffigna/Williams, the financial reports were accepted by the board. The aye votes were: Anagnos, Delu, Fry, Graffigna, Lange, Robert Lauchland, Ledbetter, Schmiedt and Williams. There were no “no” votes. Motion carried.

King also provided a detail of voluntary winery contributions to the Commission’s efforts. He noted that these are back of the envelope numbers and that staff is continuing to work on a survey to begin to get more specific numbers and details for the board to consider. The report is as follows:
2013-14 Winery Contributions $ 74,792.00
2013-14 Assessments from Lodi Wineries $ 63,532.28
2013-14 Net Event Income $152,000.00
Total: $290,324.28

King also noted that at the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year $7,298 went into the Commission account, whereas the budget had projected a shortfall of $4,083. A difference of $11,381.00.

Chairman’s Report – Ledbetter reported that he will be travelling to New York for media visits on the way to the Boston Wine Expo with staff in February. He reported that the Boston Wine Expo continues to be a strong show for Lodi and that the regional message is well received and that many report they are looking for visits to the region or for Lodi wines in their stores, markets and restaurants. Ledbetter continued to reiterate the value of having a grower not associated with any brand in particular to attend these events as growers can carry the Lodi vineyard message well and consumers are truly interested.

Committee Reports:
Bylaws/Policies Review Committee ¬– The committee met on January 8 to review and discuss bylaws and policies of the Lodi Winegrape Commission with Jill England (legal counsel). The committee discussed the qualifications for candidacy to the board and that there is a need for the board to consider candidates to have appointed as a public member of board. England will be preparing cleaned up documents and ensuring that all items discussed by the committee are considered in an amended document for the committee to look at again before bringing back to the board for approval.

Executive Committee – no report.

Grower Marketing – The Grower Marketing Committee is working to further develop the winegrape marketing plan with George Buonaccorsi to have outreach to wineries on the North and Central Coasts to enhance sales opportunities for growers to sell their fruit. The developing concept includes the introduction letter to be sent out to identified wineries as well as wineries already purchasing fruit in the region to invite them to a Lodi winegrape appreciation luncheon or reception in different areas throughout the state. Winegrape buyers will also be encouraged to bring a neighbor with them to continue developing a broader net of efforts. This will lead to an event being held in Lodi that winegrape buyers will be invited to attend and participate in providing a broad base of Lodi growers the opportunity to meet and interact with buyers.

Richard Lauchland reported on the PR efforts that have been gaining increased coverage for the region and are creating a ground swell of interest in the region and what is going on in our vineyards and cellars. Spencer reported on the efforts to refresh the lodiwine.com website and bring it to be an interactive and contemporary tool for outreach and sales to consumers.

Staff provided a preview of the newly filmed Lodi brand video to build a bridge between the LoCA Thoughts video series and some more focused vineyard and people videos. The board had a robust conversation about the video and provided some feedback and thoughts that staff was asked to provide to MeringCarson.

Lodi Rules – The committee met on January 6th to continue work on the Chain of Custody agreement and sustainability report. Staff also reported that the Lodi Rules program has been awarded the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, a prestigious recognition for the program and the leadership the grower community has shown.

Research Education and Communication Committee – It was reported that the 100 Grape Pest Management workbooks have been distributed and there are more to come to be made available to growers. The workshops built off of the books have been well received and successful. In addition, Lodi Winegrowers Workbooks are being made available and many have been distributed. The committee continues to work on enhancing coverage of the weather station networks. The Economic Impact Study has stalled and staff reported that there may be a need to engage a new entity to conduct the work.

Lodi Wine Country Committee – The committee is looking at the road shows for early 2015 including the Boston Wine Expo, Fort Worth Wine & Food, Food & Wine Classis in Aspen and California Wine Festival in Santa Barbara. Preparations for Wine & Chocolate are underway and the event is coming together with more wineries participating than ever.

Executive Director’s Report – King discussed a number of items from the monthly report he submitted for the board’s consideration (Exhibit C).

Other Organization Reports:
CWEF – The foundation is beginning to work on details for ZinFest and has reviewed quotes for work on the Visitor Center. The quotes have come down substantially and the Foundation is considering sources of funding the project.

SJFB – Fry reported that SpraySafe will be held on 2/15, AgVenture on 3/3, Farm Safety Day on 3/5. The Lodi Chamber of Commerce has also recognized the Stokes family as Agribusiness People of the Year.

LDGGA – Shinn reported that LDGGA is working on a Farm Tax Workshop with the Lodi Winegrape Commission and the Annual Dinner will be held on 2/19 with Assemblywoman Susan Eggman as speaker.

The board went into closed session at 4:25 pm.

The board reconvened in open session at 4:30 pm with no report.

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 2:00 pm.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:32 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Camron King for
John Graffigna
Secretary