Business Pulse: Manchester winery has local flavor
Beans Creek Winery is now open in Manchester and you can say it certainly has a Warren County flavor. That’s because local residents Jimmy and Colene Passons grew some of the grapes that have gone into making the wine sold there.
The winery is located on this side of Manchester before you get to I-24. You turn left at the Golden Gallon, go down a couple hundred feet, and the winery is located in the fork in the road.
It’s close to Warren County, but even so Jimmy says he’s been shocked at the amount of Warren County business he’s received.
“The number of customers we’re getting from Warren County has been surprising,” said Jimmy. “Even more surprising is all the people who have come in looking for wine that’s been made from grapes grown in our vineyard. That’s been very gratifying.”
(Note: The editors of Business Pulse do not endorse drinking wine. We also don’t endorse smoking, shooting dice, and playing in the street.)
Beans Creek Winery is a neat place. There’s a wine tasting station that allows you to sample the product before you buy it. And there’s a nifty gift shop to get all kinds of presents for any wine lover you might know.
Jimmy is fairly new to the wine business, but he still harvested 10,250 pounds of grapes this summer. Fortunately, he has the services of expert wine-maker Tom Brown, who is also part owner of the winery.
“We don’t make a bad wine,” said Tom while extracting a sample from a barrel.
Added Jimmy, “I don’t need to worry about making wine when I have one of the best wine-makers in the country.”
For more information about Beans Creek, the phone number is (931) 723-2294 and the Web site is www.beanscreekwinery.com.
Local nurserymen ship trees to China
Here’s a story I find fascinating, and I’m not one who is easily fascinated. Local nurserymen Bob Flanders of Botanico and Terry Hines of Hale & Hines Nursery are shipping 1,000 trees to China for the 2008 Olympics.
The transaction was started out of the blue when Bob received a call from a guy who found out about Botanico on the Internet. He discovered the nursery was known for its red sunset maple, which is one of the most popular trees in America.
Problem was Bob didn’t have the 1,000 trees necessary to fill the order so he partnered with Terry with each nursery supplying 500 trees. The maples are about 14 feet tall.
“This is a whole new venture for us,” said Bob, who has never shipped trees out of the country. “Maybe this will open up some new markets for us. Maybe it will help get some of that money back we’re sending to China.”
My big question is why can’t the people in China figure out how to grow red sunset maple trees themselves?
“From what I understand, the land is so overpopulated over there and so expensive,” said Bob. “It’s not a good option for them.”
What also makes this venture unique is the trees can’t be shipped with any U.S. soil. That means they have to be bare-rooted and packed with shredded newspaper. In this case, Bob and Terry used the Southern Standard for their packing.
“I guess that’s one way to get the free press into China,” said Bob.
Terry also agreed the venture is unique.
“We’ve never packaged them this way,” said Terry. “And it’s the first time we’ve shipped to China.”
Burnett to become police chief
Business Pulse is all about recognizing individual achievement. That’s why I’m glad to announce Warren County native and local high school graduate Tony Burnett has been named the new chief of police in Woodbury.
“It’s real exciting to be this young and to be at this point,” said Tony, 38. “I’ve been there going on 11 years and we have an experienced department. We probably have 100 years experience between the eight officers.”
Woodbury’s eight-man police force operates on an annual budget of around $350,000. It serves a city with a population around 2,500.
“It’s a sleepy, little town,” said Tony. “But you always have people in a sleepy, little town who don’t sleep. We have our share of drug problems and I know being in Warren County you know something about meth.”
Tony is a 1984 Warren County graduate. He says growing up, he never expected a career in law enforcement.
“I didn’t expect to go into police work, but this is a great crew we have here,” said Tony. “The guys are quality people. I don’t have to worry about them doing the right thing when they’re off work.”
Tony replaces longtime police chief William Avera. His promotion goes into effect Jan. 1.
American Profile named a fast-growing company
If you get the Sunday edition of the Southern Standard (and you wouldn’t be reading this column if you didn’t), you’re probably familiar with the supplement American Profile. We have been carrying the weekly magazine for some four years.
American Profile and its parent company, Publishing Group of America, has been named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in the country. For your information, American Profile debuts at No. 249 on the list.
American Profile has grown from a pure start-up to become the country’s fifth largest weekly magazine with distribution to 7 million homes. The magazine is based in Franklin, Tenn., and was launched from scratch in April 2000. The magazine is known for its feel-good features about America’s hometowns. The company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Arkansas.