B.C. Wine Institute Gets New Executive Director
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BCWI's new executive director, Terry Cotter |
"The executive director's position is about supporting entrepreneurs. It's about supporting the craft of winemaking, it's about supporting a sustainable industry for British Columbia," Cotter said. "In doing so, it involves all the things I enjoy--it involves operations, administration and government and community relations, and outreach."
Working with complex systems and networks of people isn't new to Cotter, who in the 1980s began his career with Dairyland, then the largest dairy in B.C. While there, he oversaw the installation of a computerized inventory-management system in the company's warehouse.
During his ownership of the Bowen Island Neighbourhood Pub from 1995 to 2005, Cotter served as a regional director of the B.C. Neighbourhood Pub Association (now the Association of Beverage Licensees, or ABLE BC) and supported efforts to liberalize the retail environment for liquor licensees in the province.
Opening his own liquor store under a secondary license attached to the pub, Cotter became familiar with the smaller wineries that his research showed would appeal to the store's affluent customer base. The role of media in promoting wine, and the impact of packaging and labelling, were driven home for him.
"I learned a lot about the industry through that experience," he said.
Cotter's work with the pub owners' association led to a growing involvement in local politics. He eventually became a municipal councillor and gained experience in local and regional government, including property issues and an assessment of ferry services to the island.
He expects his experience as a local legislator will be particularly pertinent to his new role, which will involve working with both government and the nearly 150 wineries that operate in B.C.
"I relate well with government people, because I've been in their shoes. I've been an elected official," he said. "I know what it's like to have the heat lamp on your head and people scrutinizing what you do."
It's the mix of business and political experience that appealed to the selection committee that reviewed candidates from across the country for the position, BCWI chair Scott Fraser said.
"We wanted somebody who had a background in working with diverse groups and teams," Fraser said. "Cotter's worked in businesses that are quite unrelated to alcohol or liquor or wine, but gave him that broader management that we were also looking for."
The institute's former executive director, Peggy Athans, left earlier this year after four and a half years at BCWI. During that time, the institute rebranded itself, developed a tourism strategy and became a voluntary trade association focused on marketing and promotion of premium B.C. wines made in accordance with the Vintners' Quality Alliance standard.