Walla Walla may be increasingly known for its flowing wine.

But a local rsident is focusing on how to provide the best corks.

Adam Schulz has been chosen to head CorkWest, a producer and distributor of premium cork slated for operation at the Port of Kennewick next month.

Schulz, who will also head up regional sales for the company, has been involved in production, as well as sales and marketing for several Walla Walla Valley wineries.

He plans to commute to Kennewick and maintain his residence in Walla Walla, where his wife, Karen Zizzi, also teaches voice and opera at Whitman College.

CorkWest is a division of Stafford Springs, Conn.,-based CorkTec Inc., a maker of natural cork closures.

The new CorkWest manufacturing firm will begin operations Oct. 1 under Schulz's direction.

The first regional wine cork maker outside Napa Valley is expected to make 11/2 to 2 million corks each month, according to one media report.  
 
The regional plant, reportedly a 4,000-square-foot facility in the Port of Kennewick's Oak Street Industrial Park, will provide easy access to cork for wineries all over the Northwest and even into California.

Another wine-related business has also planted roots in Walla Walla.

A California-based provider of winery ecommerce software and services, eWinery Solutions Inc., has opened a regional office here. The office is managed by Becky Waggoner, who has worked in the wine industry and brings experience in consumer direct sales and marketing.

The local operation will be responsible for sales in the Northwest Region as eWinery Solutions expands into nationwide sales of its software and services.

Existing Northwest clients include Basel Cellars, Delille Cellars, Dunham Cellars, Desert Wind Winery and Duck Pond.

Waggoner had a five-year career with wineries in Walla Walla and the greater Columbia Valley. She managed all aspects of the consumer direct marketing process, gaining experience with applications developed by eWinery Solutions.

The company, founded in 2002, serves more than 200 winery clients in the country and major wine-producing regions of the world.