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State should be thrilled with wine industry

A colleague just pointed out something to me:

-- The Washington Department of Natural Resources makes a lot of money by leasing vineyard land, especially on Red Mountain, but also in other areas of the Columbia Valley.

-- DNR also gets a percentage from every ton of grapes harvested and sold from that leased land. The money DNR makes goes to building schools statewide.

-- Grape growers and winemakers must hand over a certain amount of money to fund the Washington Wine Commission, a quasi-governmental agency, based on quantity.

-- The state taxes wineries when they make their wine.

-- The state taxes consumers when they buy the wine.

-- The state makes a lot of money through its monopoly on liquor stores.

In other words, the folks in Olympia should be downright thrilled with the growth of the state wine industry and should be doing everything it can to sustain and build that growth by making it easier to do business. And, for the most part, it does.

By aperdue at Feb 11 2008 - 3:36pm | regulations | Washington | aperdue's blog | 574 reads

State should be thrilled

It appears that the state of Washington does some good with the revenue it gets from the wine industry. Good to hear that there is support for the industry in Olympia also. Down here in Cali I am not too sure where the revenue from wine taxes goes, especially at the county level. I agree with the other two comments, wine tourists help alot of local businesses.

By robjob at Thu, 02/14/2008 - 9:37am | login or register to post comments

State should be thrilled with wine industry

I have to say the wine industry impacts so many other businesses as well. When folks head out for tastings, they typically stop somewhere for lunch and dinner. Some will venture to get a hotel room for a comfy night stay. All of these add up to more state revenues, jobs and further growth. Its interesting to see how this is all developing.

David

By dvolmut at Tue, 02/12/2008 - 4:56pm | login or register to post comments

Tourism, industry

David,

You're absolutely right about the trickle-down effect. Wine tourists are the best kind because they aren't generally arriving for an event, such as a convention. They pay full freight at hotels, restaurants and wineries. They fill up their gas tanks and leave town. So they don't add to midweek traffic.

The industry side is even bigger. Finding a niche on the non-tourism side is where there are some great opportunities for entrepreneurs.

By aperdue at Tue, 02/12/2008 - 5:57pm | login or register to post comments

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