Value Added Producer Grant Project Promotes Sonoma County Wine

On the heels of yesterday's announcement of the 2012 USDA Value Added Producer Grant Program, we received a wonderful update from one of our clients, detailing the success of their 2011 VAPG grant project.

In February, we learned that Sonoma County Vintners, a marketing organization of 175 Sonoma County wineries, was awarded a $300,000 USDA Value Added Producer Grant. Morrison & Company assisted Sonoma County Vintners with their successful grant application, providing our services for the business plan, feasibility study, and grant writing needed to complete the application.

The awarded funds have been used to complete Sonoma County’s brand identity work and supported a regional and national marketing campaign to encourage new consumers to select wines and wineries from Sonoma County. The effort included the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau.

The project was featured yesterday in a Press Democrat article, highlighting the collaborative and unifying campaign, which will include national print advertisements. The new logo, featured above, will be used by the Sonoma County Vintners, Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, and theSonoma County Tourism Bureau and will be available for local wineries to use as well.

We are honored to have had a role in this project and look forward to assisting other agriculture organizations and companies with Value Added Producer Grant applications to fund similar projects this year. To learn more about how to apply for 2012 VAPG funding, contact Brent Morrison at 530-893-4764, ext. 202 or bmorrison@morrisonco.net.