Changes at WAWGG

With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Big changes at the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers after months of self-evaluation.

Executive Director, Vicky Scharlau says a brand new face on the group was unveiled last week at their convention in the Tri Cities last week...

VICKY SCHARLAU ... "The process has been going on for about a year and a half. So, the board has started asking some serious questions of itself and of our position in the industry and really how we best meet the needs of the industry going forward and that's what precipitated that introspection which culminated in both a tweaking of our overall strategic plan, but also a name change."

Scharlau says that new name is the Washington Winegrowers Association and it better reflects what our wine industry has become...

VICKY SCHARLAU ... "The transition has gone from an organization that was created when people had two types of businesses. They were either a grower or they were a winery. And now, as we have progressed, these almost 30 years later, many of our business formats of both growers and wineries are that they have become a much flatter organization."

Scharlau says the change comes as people across the country are taking notice of Washington State wines and the growth and investment on both the supply-side and production-side.