Massachusetts
SPRING 2018
FAMILYBUSINESS THE FAMILIES PUTTING NEW ENGLAND WINERIES ON THE MAP
Inside:
What’s Wine Without Cheese? A Look at Lawton’s Family Farm Official magazine of the
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Massachusetts Family Business Official magazine of the
CONTENTS
8 Generations on the Vine Meet some of the families making New England a destination for oenophiles.
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do good to do well
5
balance your bandwidth
6
look beyond the buck
Millennials know that the cost of doing business shouldn’t be a conscience.
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Is your Internet service the right size for your business?
Set yourself up for success when the time comes to sell.
18 happy trails
From Connecticut to Cape Cod, these are the 14 vineyards on the Coastal Wine Trail.
19 grass-fed grandeur
One of the oldest family farms in the country isn’t waiting for the rooster to crow to meet the day ahead.
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20
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From the board
The Ethical Revolution and the Family Business By Jeffrey S. Davis and Brian Nagle
2018!
Who thought we would be here so quickly, but it’s a new year with new challenges for family businesses. A new tax law has passed, and it’s the most impactful in a generation. There has been plenty of speculation and conjecture as to what its effects will be, but what we know for sure is that it will be significant and far-reaching. As capital is repatriated from overseas corporate tax rates fall, enhancing the competitive landscape. One of the challenges faced by every family owned business as it grows is preserving the original family business culture, core values and family assets. Many family businesses cultivate close ties to the communities where they are based and become leaders locally. As a result, family businesses tend to maintain a higher level of ethical standards in the day-to-day operations since their family’s life and reputation is so closely wedded to the company that often bares their name. In today’s climate, preserving team productivity alongside ethical standards while practicing social responsibility is of paramount importance to businesses that hope to appeal to ever-more discerning consumers. Now that Millennials are the largest population group in the United States, businesses are taking cues from them-both as consumers and members of the workforce. Just like the previous generation listened to
the Baby Boomers, the Baby Boomers now need to listen to the Millennials and adapt their operations and culture accordingly. This generation (currently 18-35 years old) represents over a quarter of the U.S. workforce – and is expected to grow to over 50 percent by 2020. A 2014 Nielsen survey showed that Millennials are significantly more responsive to corporate social responsibility in both consumption as well as employment decisions than previous generations. A 2017 Stanford business survey reinforced this further, finding that most of the public viewed unethical behavior as a fundamental breach of trust between a company and its customers. These Millennials are choosing to spend their resources on organizations that appear to represent their own set of values. It is not only wise but necessary for companies to be proactive in ensuring that their company effectively promotes these values. The view of how businesses should conduct themselves will mean that corporate citizens will have to continue to evolve at a faster pace in 2018 and over the next decade. Many practices that were accepted as the norm by previous generations now face greater scrutiny as our desire to have leaders of admirable values have evolved. We are living today in the age of Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, Brett Ratner and numerous other business and public leaders
that are finally being held accountable. The continuing national conversation we are having around moral, ethical leadership and sexual harassment must not be ignored by those in the business community. Leaders and family businesses today must be driven by a higher social order! Work environments depicted on TV shows such as “Mad Men” – environments that used to be widely tolerated – have no place in today’s corporate culture. In order to attract the best and brightest in the workforce and to meet consumer demand, companies must ensure that their values and reputation align with today’s higher standards. If they don’t, they will fall short in the evolving global business landscape as ethical culture becomes a competitive business advantage. The co-founders of the FBA created the organization over 11 years ago in order to assist family-owned and -operated enterprises successfully navigate the ever-changing business landscape. If you want to learn more about the FBA or get involved, please contact us directly or find us at FBA.org. ■ JEFFREY S. DAVIS IS CEO OF MAGE LLC & RADIO ENTREPRENEURS. A CO-FOUNDER OF THE FBA, HE CAN BE REACHED AT JDAVIS@MAGEUSA.COM. BRIAN NAGLE, JD, LLM, IS THE MANAGING DIRECTOR AND A WEALTH MANAGER AT FIRST REPUBLIC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT. A COFOUNDER OF THE FBA, HE CAN BE REACHED AT BNAGLE@ FIRSTREPUBLIC.COM.
Massachusetts
FAMILYBUSINESS
Official magazine of the Family Business Association. Inc.
Editorial | Advertising | Design A Family-Owned Business Since 1872
101 Huntington Ave., Suite 500 Boston, MA 02199 fbaedu.com
DIRECTORS Jeffrey S. Davis, Mage, LLC Al DeNapoli, Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C. Brian Nagle, First Republic Private Wealth Management 4
PRESIDENT Edward D. Tarlow, Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C.
VICE PRESIDENT Catherine Watson, Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C.
TREASURER Jeffery P. Foley, Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP
280 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210 Phone 617-428-5100 Fax 617-428-5119 www.thewarrengroup.com ©2017 The Warren Group Inc. All rights reserved. The Warren Group is a trademark of The Warren Group Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
How Much Internet Speed Does Your Business Need? By Rob Souza
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etermining Internet speed requirements might not seem like a priority for growing businesses, but it’s a simple step in keeping your company on track. Paying for more than your business needs means wasting money that could be better used elsewhere. Conversely, skimping on speed can result in frustration and a drop in productivity. The key is investing in exactly the technology your business needs – the sweet spot that will keep things running smoothly. Think of your Internet speed like a water hose transporting data instead. The bigger the hose, the faster the data travels through it – ROB SOUZA sending and receiving more data per second. The challenge is determining not only how much speed they need now, but how much they’ll need as they grow. A photographer just starting out needs to consider the added uploading, file sharing and web requirements as her client base grows. Likewise, a family-owned construction company should think about speed requirements when branching out into communicating with suppliers and off-site staff, electronically sending plans and online customer invoicing. Sometimes bigger isn’t better, but sometimes it is. Boosting your speed won’t necessarily make things happen faster. Many small- and medium-sized businesses opt for faster speeds that go far beyond their needs. If your business Internet speed demand can be met with lower speeds, why waste money on ramping things up? Alternately, if your Internet requirements are extensive, higher speeds might be in order. To make that decision, you need to know what those requirements are. Assessing your required business Internet speed is not difficult. Consider the Internet-dependent activities that are happening at your office. Each of these tasks or activities uses a particular amount of bandwidth or data speed to operate efficiently. By assessing which are common at your business, and how many staffers use them simultaneously, you can estimate the appropriate bandwidth for your business Internet needs. For example, if you operate a call center and have 25 people on the phone simultaneously who are processing orders via the cloud at the same time, your requirements would be far more than a five-person legal office. The call center may need 40 megabits per second while the law office might need only 20 megabits per second to accommodate simultaneous video conferencing along with phone and cloud computing.
• Do your Internet requirements go beyond browsing and checking emails? • Are video chats common practice? • Does your business process transactions online? • How much are you uploading or downloading on a daily basis? • Are your employees regularly accessing cloud-based applications? • Do employees use mobile devices to connect to your network? Properly sizing your Internet to your business’s specific needs can allow you to reallocate funds to other aspects of your business. As the Internet of Things expands and your business grows, there are a couple of important things to keep in mind when sizing your Internet: • Do an accurate assessment of your current bandwidth requirements. Consider daily activities that require Internet and the number of people that are online at the same time. • Add a small cushion to the number you come up with and purchase bandwidth that will allow for your regular activities, including that cushion. • Do periodic, scheduled reassessments of your Internet requirements and upgrade your bandwidth as necessary. This will ensure your Internet always meets your needs as your business expands and Internet needs evolve. ■ ROB SOUZA IS CEO OF OTELCO INC., A PROVIDER OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
What to Consider When Assessing Internet Usage
IN ALABAMA, MAINE, MASSACHUSETTS, MISSOURI, NEW HAMPSHIRE, VERMONT AND
Every business is different, but here are some common uses to help you determine your Internet requirements:
PHONE, DIGITAL HIGH-SPEED DATA LINES, TRANSPORT SERVICES, NETWORK ACCESS,
WEST VIRGINIA. THE COMPANY’S SERVICES INCLUDE LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE TELECABLE TELEVISION AND OTHER RELATED SERVICES. LEARN MORE AT OTELCO.COM. 5
Selling a Family Business Involves More Than Price
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Estate Planning By Kathleen A. Cassidy and Ron A. Pac, the Barnum Financial Group
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quick Internet scan reveals extensive advice and tips on selling a small business, with headlines ranging from ‘How to Sell Your Business Fast’ to ‘How Long It Takes to Sell a Small Business.’ There are also instructions on positioning a firm for sale, establishing a price and many other pieces of advice. There is very little focus on differentiating a family business, however, and more specifically, scant recognition is given the often-crucial importance of financial and estate planning as part of the sale process. A family business sale often involves children and other relatives, whether directly or indirectly, and this presents challenges not present in many other sale situations. Comprehensive financial and estate planning helps business owners think clearly about their retirement and about goals, both for themselves and for others. It can involve frank conversations with family members and it encompasses many different areas of a person’s life. A financial advisor works with the cli-
KATHLEEN A. CASSIDY
RON A. PAC
productivity for the business, loss of income for the family and complications over whether, how and for what amount to purchase the deceased owner’s share. These risks can’t be eliminated, but they can be managed with proper planning. Measure the Future An early step in financial planning entailing a business sale is to assess how much the company depends upon the active involvement of the owner who wants to retire. Can the business function successfully without him or her? Will it be a gradual transition, in which the owner incrementally backs away from day-to-day management? Will it involve selling to partners, key employ-
“The path to achieving a successful business sale and transition differs for everyone, and family considerations will often shape major decisions.” ent to understand and help manage the ways in which personal life and business life intersect. Planning can be especially complicated when a closely held business is involved. Some decisions are within the owner’s control, and others may require management of the risks involved. Industry trends, new innovations and the normal fluctuations of the economy can affect the value of a business. A serious injury or illness can derail a retirement plan. Key employees, even family members, may leave for other opportunities. The death of a partner can result in a whole host of unforeseen consequences, including reduction in
ees or a strategic buyer? Or will there be a transition to the next generation? If the owner has identified his or her successor, are that person’s intentions, talents and financial wherewithal a good match with the owner’s expectations and what it takes to manage the business? This question can be especially tough when children are potential successors, and a hands-on financial advisor can help with objective perspective. It’s also common for one child to be involved in the business while another child is not; many business owners struggle with the question of how to treat all children fairly when it comes to passing on assets.
Importantly, what price does the owner need to receive at sale to maintain his or her desired lifestyle in retirement? Does that price match what the sale is likely to generate? If not, what steps need to be taken? It’s important for business owners to consider these questions when saving for retirement. Managing risk may involve investing outside the business to help fund retirement. It may also be possible for an owner to sell the business and continue deriving income from it by staying on as an employee or consultant, or by leasing property to the business. Separate to Protect Establishing a separate business entity, such as an LLC or corporation, for each operating concern or piece of real estate, can be a smart move for asset protection reasons; it can help to protect the assets held by one entity from debts associated with the other entities. But it can also help facilitate other goals at and after retirement. A common scenario is for a business owner is to separate from the company itself but retain the real estate, allowing continued rental income in retirement. Keeping real estate in a separate business entity from the operating business can also be an effective way to pass assets on to the next generation. If the children who are employees of the company plan to take over ownership, directing real estate to other children can help to ensure that all children are treated fairly. Of course, whatever party benefits from a real estate separation, rental real estate does require some level of management The path to achieving a successful business sale and transition differs for everyone, and family considerations will often shape major decisions, whether control is passed to other family members or if those individuals will benefit from other arrangements that are made. ■ KATHLEEN CASSIDY CAN BE CONTACTED AT KCASSIDY@ BARNUMFG.COM, AND RON PAC AT RPAC@BARNUMFG.COM. 7
A Grand Crew The Families Putting New England Wineries on the Map
I like on the table, when we’re speaking, the light of a bottle of intelligent wine. – Pablo Neruda 8
Paul Nunes, co-owner and vineyard manager at Newport Vineyards, during harvest.
Photo courtesy of Marianne Lee for Newport Vineyards
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intners, one of New England’s most tight-knit and increasingly renowned family businesses, are united by the Coastal Wine Trail, a nonprofit organization whose 14-member wineries range from Eastern Connecticut to Cape Cod. Ian Edwards, director of the trail and assistant winemaker at Running Brook Vineyards, describes it as a “co-op-etition” – the members build each other up and, with the help of programs like a map, a “coastal passport” and a $99 tasting ticket for two, encourage tourists to explore vineyard after vineyard. “Our goal is to be the Napa of the Northeast,” Edwards, said. “We want to share this region and show that not only can wine be made here, but made well.” The trail was born in 2005, when neighboring vineyards sought to unite over their common interests – chief among them being the preservation of important agricultural land and to showcase the excellent wine the region can achieve. “The alliances are what’s pushing people to give local wines a shot,” said Bill Russell of Westport Rivers Vineyard, whose family was instrumental in the formation of the trail. They, along with four other vineyards – Sakonnet (which became Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard in 2012), Running Brook, Newport and Greenvale – were the five founding members. Since its creation 13 years ago, the Coastal Wine Trail has grown to a total of 14 vineyards that reside in what’s known as the Southeastern New England AVA. AVA refers to an American Viticultural Area, which is a federally recognized wine growing region. Here, the mitigating influences of the Atlantic Ocean, along with the warm water of the Gulf Stream that lap at our shores during the late summer and autumn, make growing grapes in the area more viable than one may assume. The challenging climate “forces us to be creative, and puts us all in the same boat,” said Edwards. “It’s a great sense of camaraderie; everybody’s doing something for somebody else. If someone’s a little shorthanded during harvest, they can call up another vineyard to see if they have anyone they can spare. If someone has a bad crop, other vineyards will share their grapes with them.”
It’s that goodwill and common purpose that unites trail members and helps visitors understand that a sense of community is a tangible part of our wine’s terroir. At the Trail’s Nucleus Westport Rivers Vineyard is the nucleus of the Coastal Wine Trail, thanks largely to the aforementioned efforts of the Russell family to establish a formal alliance. Bill and his older brother Rob are fourthgeneration winemakers; their great grandfather and grandfather owned a vineyard in Upstate New York. Their parents, Bob and Carol Russell, reignited the family’s legacy by purchasing Westport Rivers in 1982, both to continue a tradition and to protect land that was increasingly being lost to development. Their son Rob, who oversees all growing operations for Westport Rivers, began planting the vines in 1986. Bill joined three years later. “As a farm, a vineyard and an estate winery is fairly unique among agricultural enterprises in that, starting off with dirt, you’ve got to make things, harvest them, make a value-added product and then sell at a market place,” said Bill. “There’s not a lot of farms that do all levels of that; from soup to nuts, we do it all.” Overlooking the more than 400 acres the Russell family has preserved, standing at one of the burnished wooden bars built solely for that quiet, scenic purpose, Bill and Rob unconsciously demonstrate the importance of mutual respect and communication in a family enterprise as detailed as theirs. “We’ve always been in each other’s business and now we’re in business with each other,” said Bill. “But as far as that goes, like with many wineries on the planet, the agricultural side can be completely separate from the production side.” He is referring to the difference between a vineyard, which is the plantation in which grapes are grown, and a winery, where the product is made. Not every vineyard makes their wine, and not every winery grows their own grapes. “That’s why we’re a fairly unique entity in the wine world … very few grapes are grown by the people that make the wine,” said Bill. With each brother managing a part of the business, communication is paramount. “We’re both very trusting of each other, but in general we should probably be talkContinued on page 10 9
A section of the vineyards at Westport Rivers. This is just a fraction of the 400 acres of land that the Russell family protects. Continued from page 9
ing about getting updates more often so we don’t look like complete idiots. In a day and age where these things are everywhere,” Bill said, palming his smartphone, “everyone thinks you should talk to each other immediately. Arguably we had better communication techniques before the invention of the cell phone than after.” Watching the two interact, it’s clear that part of their love for the work isn’t limited to the fact that they have complete control over a product from seed to sip, nor is it because they get to work outside in one of the most beautiful areas in the country; it’s because they get to work with each other. They joke, they add to each other’s sentences and their ideas bounce between them until they both come to the same logical conclusion. Their thought that they need to communicate more seems superfluous, but any excuse to hang out with each other is a good one. Be Proud, Massachusetts Running a successful family business in any climate is challenging, but when your business is dependent on the actual climate, that adds a new level of anxiety. “The challenge is alleviating stress, not 10
adding stress, which is quite opposite of warmer climates,” Rob said. Though it takes skill it takes to coax quality from the vine, the largest hurdle of a New England winery isn’t combating weather but combating perception. “The thing we’ve had the hardest time with is cultural adoption of regional wines,” Bill said. For the first 22 years of their 30-year existence, they stuck to traditional marketing and sales efforts. “We’d pursue sales in restaurants, retail stores, and just tried to get our presence out there. We’ve had varying degrees of success with that,” Bill said. “Believe it or not, the people that knew more about wine and were confident in their wine knowledge recognized what we were doing and got behind us – but those people were few and far between.” “Most of the time in the wine world, you find people who are educated to know what’s supposed to be good and what’s not supposed to be good. ‘I’m supposed to give wines from this region a thumbs-down because everybody does.’ There’s very little independent thought sometimes,” he said. Another challenge is that there tends to be less enthusiasm for local products in Massachusetts.
“If you go up to Vermont, people are very supportive of locally-grown things – local cheeses, local beer, even local wines. People are proud to buy them, they support each other; they’re almost xenophobic,” he said. “Massachusetts is very different from that. Even now if you go to the bars in Boston, it’s rare to find one where 80 percent of the taps are local. It’s more like 70 percent are the big brands and the local guys all have to fight over four tap spots. We don’t really get behind the local thing near as fast nor as rabidly as other people do.” The slow adoption of the locavore movement caused them to shift gears. “We were doing this very traditional advertising model and at some point, we really analyzed how much we were spending to get business,” Bill said. “We also recognized how we seemed to have very loyal people … and we decided that the smart thing to do would be to give them opportunities to like us more.” “If we can get people here, as well as the brewery, this is where we can be sexy,” Rob added. “If you put us on the bottom shelf of a liquor store in Chelsea, it collects dust because there’s an endcap of Yellowtail that’s being pushed by the distributor. We’re handsell, and this is where we can hand-sell best.”
John (left) and Paul Nunes, co-owners of Newport Vineyards.
They’d be remiss not to mention that major impact the Massachusetts Farm Wineries and Growers Association has had on both their industry and their own winery. “They’re the ones who got laws passed that allowed us to get a pouring permit that
allowed us to join a farmer’s market,” said Bill. “Some of the things that have set up successes for all the wineries and the breweries are the alliances who have worked in Boston and also marketing to make it a stronger concept. Massachusetts wine is a
The bottling room at Newport Vineyards.
stronger concept, Massachusetts beer is a stronger concept.” Beer and ‘Terroir’ Westport’s original planting included Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Continued on page 12
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Continued from page 11
Grüner Veltliner. They have since added Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier, dozens of experimental varietals and Rkatsitelli, the last of which is an ancient grape variety originating from the regions of what are now Georgia and Ukraine. In addition to vinifera, Rob and Bill also grow grains for beer. From this came Buzzards Bay brewery, which has since garnered a significant following and a bevy of adulatory reviews. In explanation of the expansion, Bill paraphrased Sonoma Valley icon and food activist Lou Preston, who quipped that it takes a lot of beer to make good wine; “winemakers require quantities of finely-crafted beer in order to survive the very nature of winemaking,” Bill said. “We’re more interested in growing grains than hops, which puts us kind of countercultural to the beer world, which seems to be all about hops,” Bill said. He’s referring to the ubiquity of hoppy beers IPAs on the market and the fact that small craft breweries seem locked in an arms race to outbitter each other in order to claim market dominance of the ironic flannel enthusiast demographic. Buzzards Bay beer isn’t interested in that, and so they brew a smoother, maltier beverage. Little things can have a profound effect on an ecosystem. Terroir, a French concept that a particular flavor that comes out of a particular place, has “some real truth behind it, but I think it’s much more than soil,” Rob mused. “The people that prune that vine by hand aren’t going to be the same people in the next farm. I think terroir is the soil, sunlight, rain, people … even the osprey that fly around here that scare away other birds.” Perhaps it’s because grapes are bit more delicate than other crops and react more immediately to changes, with each season’s yield standing alone from others. Westport Vineyard wines can be found at the critically beloved Birch in Providence, Rhode Island. And if you were invited to the White House during the Bush Senior years, you may have had some of Westport River’s award-winning sparkling whites. Mansions and Merlot Follow the Coastal Wine Trail west into Rhode Island and you’ll cross over the Sakonnet River onto Aquidneck Island. Near the gilded-age opulence of the city of Newport, you’ll find another set of 12
Greenvale’s vineyards in the winter, with the Sakonnet River in the background.
Nancy Parker Wilson and her son, Billy.
Maddie checking up on the fields at Greenvale.
“Part of Greenvale’s mission is to help preserve the historic identity of being an important agricultural space” — Nancy Parker Wilson, fifth-generation owner at Greenvale Vineyards brothers behind a vineyard, who are also dedicated to preserving august plots of land from rapid development. John and Paul Nunes co-own Newport Vineyards on farmland that has been in their family for more than 100 years. With more than 50 acres of grapes, they’re the largest vineyard on the island. Much like their neighbors to the east in Westport, Newport Vineyards began in the 1980s. Originally the site of their family’s car dealership, Nunes Motor Co., the building was converted to accommodate a new family business venture of winemaking. The polished concrete floor on the
way to the bottling room reveals the site’s legacy; the marks for the hydraulic lifts are still plainly visible. “We started with eight acres of grapes and now we have 52. We’ve really grown in the 23 years since,” said John, vintner at Newport Vineyards. They grow a number of grapes, but 75 percent of the plots are devoted to white varieties: Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Vidal and Cayuga. For reds, they have Pinot Noir, Merlot, Landot Noir and Gewürztraminer. John’s younger brother Paul manages the vineyard. Continued on page 14
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The tasting room at Westport Rivers Vineyards.
The view from Westport Rivers’ tasting room.
Bill Russell during harvest.
Grapes nearing harvest.
“I think terroir is much more than soil; it’s the sunlight, the rain, the people … even the osprey that fly around here that scare away other birds.” — Rob Russell, vineyard manager for Westport Rivers Vineyards Continued from page 12
What used to accommodate a few dozen people years ago now, after some extensive renovations, sees up to 1,000 people on a typical Saturday in the summer. “There are two reasons we’re here: we have open space on a farm and tourists,” John said. “Those are the things that make us a little different than the other vineyards. Without Newport, we wouldn’t be this size.” Newport capitalizes on the tourism potential wholeheartedly by cultivating relationships with nearby hotels. “We do hundreds of events every year as well,” he said. “We host a farmer’s market every Saturday, we’ll do about 35 to 40 weddings, host corporate events, hold our own events, even regattas. We also have a little brewery in the works, which is coming late spring or summer.” 14
Late spring and early summer is, unsurprisingly, when the year-round winery really starts to see traffic. The seasonal ivory blooms of the old Catalpas in the distance frame the viridescence of the field, making the grounds as necessary for sightseeing tourists as the Cliff Walk. And then there’s Newport Vineyards’ restaurant, Brix. Named after a winemaking term – “brix” is the measurement of the sugar content of grapes – the restaurant is helmed by Chef Andy Teixeria, who does his part to make sure as much of the food as possible is grown locally. Teixeria “is very, very dedicated to working with the local farmers – beyond dedicated,” John said. “He goes out to the farms and sees what’s going on. He smokes his own bacon, makes all his own dressings, bakes his own bread, everything.”
Standing in the restaurant, John explained the importance of choosing one’s food before selecting the wine. “Our barrel-fermented chardonnay Burgundian-style, it’s not like California where it blows the food off the plate,” he said. “It’s a nice, aromatic, crisp white wine that goes with the seafood that our region is so well known for. We’re not going to make ‘punch-you-in-the-nose cabernets’ here; the reds are going to be more subtle.” By the Haunt of the Wild Black Goose Even though Greenvale is less than two miles from Newport Vineyards, its placement further from the city – and deeper into the historic regional breadbasket that is Portsmouth – places it off the beaten path. The farm has been in the same family
Westport Rivers Five Dogs, 2016 vintage
Rob (left) and Bill Russell, fourth-generation winemakers
since 1863 and sits on the banks of the Sakonnet River, which reputedly translates to “haunt of the wild black goose.” Growing grapes on the property didn’t begin until a century later, when in the 1960s, fourthgeneration Cortlandt Parker and his wife Nancy began to grow grapes as a hobby.
They soon saw the feracious land’s potential as a vineyard, as evidenced by Sakonnet Vineyards directly across the river. For a decade, the grapes they grew were sold to wineries. That changed in the 1990s when a consultant urged Cortlandt and Nancy’s daughter, Nancy Parker Wilson, and her
husband, Bill Wilson, to make better use of their outstanding grapes. Now, thanks to help from the sixth generation – Billy, Bennett and Parker – Greenvale now encompasses 27 acres and produces approximately 3,500 cases of wine every Continued on page 16
The family business expertise you need. The responsiveness you deserve. Webster Bank has a long history — both as a family-run business and helping family businesses like yours. Whatever matters most to you, your Webster banker will tailor a solution that works for your business. That’s how we’ve grown to be one of the largest banking organizations in the Northeast*… one relationship at a time. Learn how we’ve helped family businesses like yours grow and thrive. We are pleased to be a sponsor of the Family Business Association. call: Debra Drapalla at (617) 717.6841 email: ddrapalla@websterbank.com * Source: National Information Center. The Webster symbol is a registered trademark in the U.S. Webster Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender ©2017 Webster Financial Corporation. All rights reserved. WEB1606_4.75x7.25_AD_FINAL_101817.indd 1
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year. The site is anchored by a beautifully renovated, mid-19th century stable. “My parents … put a lot of attention into the vineyards and the main house, and [the stable] began to fall down. It had not been in use since the 1950s, but we saw its potential for a tasting room,” Nancy said. The “main house,” a stunning estate built just after the stable in 1865, is a quarter of a mile down the lane. The renovation of a historic stable isn’t an easy job, but Nancy’s husband Bill was uniquely qualified for the undertaking – he’s the founder of Wilson Architects, a firm in Boston’s Seaport District that’s had a hand in many critically renowned projects on both sides of the Atlantic. Nancy’s background, which she doesn’t discuss because she considers it boring, reads like a resume Wonder Woman might have if (if Wonder Woman applied herself a little more): She was the director of public information for Stone Zoo and Franklin Park Zoo, both in Boston; helmed the community relations programs for several major companies; and founded her own public relations firm. She currently serves on multiple boards, including Boston’s South End Historical Society, the Aquidneck Land Trust, GrowSmartRI, the Newport Historical Society and the Portsmouth Free Library. “I was one of those people who got Bs in college because I love doing so many different things,” she said. Their children don’t fall far from the vine; their son, Billy, is an enthusiastic force in his family’s enterprise as the assistant winemaker and recently appointed general manager at Greenvale. “It’s awesome being on the water. There’s so much heat that gets insulated from the Gulf Stream,” he said. With heat comes humidity, “but we have the hill and the ocean breeze, which in the summertime comes off the water and is huge for removing moisture from the canopy,” the leafy mass of the grapevine. “If you’re aware of it, you can definitely feel it move like the giant cycle it is.” The influence of the water can be tasted in not only Greenvale’s wine, but that of other wineries close to the New England coast. The wind inevitably picks up some of the water molecules as it whips over the sea, and can leave trace amounts of salt over every inch of the plant. Further, the 16
vines are influenced from below thanks to centuries of uniquely coastal farming practices; Billy, dusting off his anthropology degree, pointed out that early settlers to the region – Portsmouth dates back to the 1630s – commonly harvested seaweed for use as a soil amendment. Century after century of its use to boost nutrients has laid the groundwork for what Billy called “the social life of the area’s soil.” This region’s winemakers are uniquely aware of their potential to affect others both now and in the future. This explains their shared conservationist philosophy, as well as their belief in ethical, sustainable practices. “We’re trying to be more sustainable, so four years ago we stopped using weed killer,” Billy said. “Instead, we purchased a mower that’s designed to mow between every trunk.” Greenvale does nearly everything by hand – harvesting, pruning, removing leaves from the canopy, hedging and more. The lagoons of white clover that grow prolifically in the field also benefit the root system naturally. “We’re definitely getting more into the idea of living soils; we have a field that’s just organic – it’s our Albariño field,” he said. “We just compost it a lot and spray it with fish emulsion.” The farm also has hops fields, where they’ve recently begun growing cascade, centennial, nugget, chinook, Willamette and Columbus hops for beer. “I was expecting them to grow about 12 feet, because growing organically I was told not to expect much beyond that,” he said. “But they shot up to 25 feet! It’s that Aquidneck Farms compost!” Much of the compost Greenvale receives comes from neighboring farms. “We get a ton … from Swiss Village farm over in Newport,” Billy said. With Aquidneck, a family-run farm on conservation land half a mile down the road, “we’d trade our hay for compost. We try to get partnerships going with as many places in the area.” This goodwill extends beyond the soil, he continued; “in good years, we’ll exchange fruit for rental space and equipment use. It’s a very symbiotic environment.” Greenvale began renting space from Newport Vineyards in 1997. This has the added benefit, Billy explained, of him being able to learn not only from Greenvale’s own experienced winemaker (Richard
Carmichael), but from Newport Vineyards’ winemaker, George Chelf. “Because the state’s so small, there’s a good amount of solidarity between farms here,” he said of Rhode Island. “You can fit all the farmers into one room.” Billy and his mother continue the conversation in Greenvale’s tasting room. “Part of Greenvale’s mission is to help preserve the historic identity of being an important agricultural space,” Nancy said. “The farm community is all getting chopped up. In the old days, as I was watching houses go up on Black Point, I was feeling like Don Quixote coming down the driveway – ‘back!’ –” she gestured, pretending to lash a whip at real estate developers. Preserving for Tomorrow An appreciation for creativity is shared by the winemakers of New England, as the industry in the region is relatively young. “I’ve talked to a lot of vineyard owners around here, and what they love is that they get to express themselves by growing their own types of grapes and make wine their own way,” said Billy. Aside from the fact that every vineyard featured here pages belongs to the Coastal Wine Trail, which fosters mutual success and helps promote New England as a respected viticultural haven, these vineyards have also taken it upon themselves to preserve and protect the land whose produce has help build the region for centuries. Their mutual goals are legion, and vastly outnumber the differences in whatever tasting notes their products may offer from bottle to bottle. They know the space they inhabit is pristine, and in a time when the pace of already rapid development quickens, they believe in the wisdom of conservation. Generations deep in their own family businesses, they are united by their efforts to maintain the land not just for their own children, but for all children. Latent in their profession is the knowledge that things should only get better with time. ■ MIKE FLAIM IS A FREELANCE WRITER AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR AT THE WARREN GROUP, PUBLISHER OF MASSACHUSETTS FAMILY BUSINESS MAGAZINE. HE MAY BE REACHED AT MFLAIM@THEWARRENGROUP.COM.
PRESENTED BY
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Sign Up Today At Fbaedu.com/cyber-security Contact George Chateauneuf, 617-896-5344, gchateauneuf@thewarrengroup.com
The Coastal Wine Trail
Maugle Sierra Vineyards 825 – 827 Colonel Ledyard Highway (CT Rt. 117) Ledyard, CT 06339 Phone: 860-464-2987 Web: www.mauglesierravineyards.com Email: pdm-a@comcast.net Hours: Open year-round Friday - Sunday Friday 12-9 p.m., live music 6-9 p.m. Saturday 12-6 p.m. Sunday 12-6 p.m., live music from 2-5 p.m. In addition to the above, open May October, Wednesday-Monday, 12-6 p.m.
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Preston Ridge Vineyard 100 Miller Road Preston, CT 06365 Phone: 860-383-4278 Web: www.prestonridgevineyard.com Email: info@prestonridgevineyard.com Hours: Fridays 1-9 p.m. (live music 5:30-8:30 p.m.)
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Saturdays 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sundays 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (live music beginning April 19, 12-3 p.m.) Close at 3:30 p.m. on July 18 and Sept. 12
round, except: Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Boxing Day (12/26), New Year’s Day
Jonathan Edwards Winery 74 Chester Main Road North Stonington, CT 06359 Phone: 860-535-0202 Web: www.jedwardswinery.com Hours: The winery is open year-round, seven days a week from 11 a.m-5 p.m. Close at 4:30 p.m. due to private events on high season weekends (May-October)
Saltwater Farm Vineyard 349 Elm Street (Route 1A) Stonington, CT 06378 Phone: 860-415-9072 Web: www.saltwaterfarmvineyard.com Email: info@saltwaterfarmvineyard.com Hours: Open April-December Wednesday & Thursday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, Saturday* & Sunday: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday & Tuesday: Closed *Reservations are required for Saturdays.
Stonington Vineyards 523 Taugwonk Road Stonington, CT 06378 Phone: 860-535-1222 Web: www.stoningtonvineyards.com Email: info@stoningtonvineyards.com Hours: Open daily, 11 a.m-5.p.m. year-
Langworthy Farm Winery 308 Shore Rd (Scenic Route 1) Westerly, R.I. 02891 Phone: 401-322-7791 Web: www.langworthyfarm.com Email: langworthyfarmwinery@verizon.net Hours: January-Memorial Day:
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“Our goal is to be the Napa of the Northeast. We want to share this region and show that not only can wine be made here, but made well.” — Ian Edwards, director of the Coastal Wine Trail Email: information@greenvale.com Hours: Open daily for tours and tastings January-March: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Sundays 12-4 p.m. April-December: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays 12-5 p.m. Vineyard tours begin at 2 p.m. (weather providing) Carolyn’s Sakonnet 9 Vineyard 162 West Main Road Little Compton, RI 02837 Phone: 401-635-8486 | 800-91-WINES Web: www.sakonnetwine.com Email: info@sakonnetwine.com Hours: Open daily, tastings available on demand. May-October: Sunday-Wednesday, 10 a.m-6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday,10 a.m.-8 p.m. November-April: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m5 p.m., Friday & Saturday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Daily tours, 12-3 p.m. every hour, on the hour Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery 417 Hix Bridge Road Westport, MA 02790 Phone: 508-636-423 Web: www.westportrivers.com Email: retail@westportrivers.com Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Public tours Saturday at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Closed Sundays
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Friday- Sunday 12-5 p.m. Memorial Day-December: Wednesday-Sunday 12-5 p.m. July 4th -Labor Day: Open every day Newport Vineyards 909 East Main Road (Route 138) Middletown, RI 02842 Phone: 401-848-5161 Web: www.newportvineyards.com Email: info@newportvineyards.com Hours: Open every day, year-round Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday: 12-5 p.m. Tours daily at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Groups by appointment
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Greenvale Vineyards 582 Wapping Road Portsmouth, RI 02871 Phone: 401-847-3777 Web: www.greenvale.com
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Phone: 508-985-1998 Web: www.runningbrookwine.com Email: info@runningbrookwine.com Hours: Open year-round Monday-Wednesday: 12-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday: 12-6 p.m.* *Hours are extended for live music events. Travessia Winery 760 Purchase Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Phone: 774-929-6534 Web: www.travessiawine.com Email: info@travessiawine.com Hours: Open Friday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Please visit the website for seasonal hours.
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Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod 11 Shore Road North Truro, MA 02652 Phone: 508-487-6200 Web: www.trurovineyardsofcapecod.com Email: info@trurovineyardsofcapecod.com Hours: April: Open Friday, Saturday and Monday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. May-October: Open every day MondaySaturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. November-Dec. 14: Open Friday, Saturday and Monday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m., with tastings every half-hour. Free tours 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. from Memorial Day to Columbus Day
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Coastal Vineyards 61 Pardon Hill Road South Dartmouth, MA 02748 Phone: 774-202-4876 Web: www.coastal-vineyards.com Email: info@coastal-vineyards.com Hours: Open for tastings and tours midApril through mid-November Friday-Sunday 12-5 p.m.
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Running Brook Vineyard 335 Old Fall River Road North Dartmouth MA 02747 19
Business Profile
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Raw Talent
A Centuries-Old Family Farm is Ready for the Day Ahead By Mike Flaim
o conversation about wine can take place in the absence of a meal. People have carved out lucrative careers not by growing the grapes, cooking the food or even by necessarily understanding how to do either, but by intuiting that certain things simply make each other better. Master sommeliers devote themselves to the nuances borne from these pairings and evolutionary biologists attempt to explain why those combinations work in the first place, but it takes no special training or education to understand that the experience of both Eighteen cows lumber across the fields that make up Lawton Farm’s 26 acres in Foxboro, Massachusetts, dreamily taking in the sweet grass and sedge underfoot. They’re Ayrshire cows, a breed of cattle of Scottish descent that are tolerant of less loamy soils and colder winters than their more ubiquitous Holstein cousins. Their red patches against a white coat make them look like walking topographic maps of indeterminate shorelines. They’re in the capable hands of Ed Lawton, his wife Nancy and cheesemaker Melissa Gagne. The property is less than a mile as the crow flies from the Patriots’ home field, and you’d be forgiven for not believing that in the shadow of Gillette Stadium, a family on a historic farm has been quietly making highly sought fromage blanc and asiago. “You have to be aware of the goings-on at the stadium,” Ed said, thumbing in the direction of the Patriot’s turf. He recounts a story from his younger days: “Some 20-something years ago I was spreading manure right up the street. I knew there was an event coming that day. ‘I could do one more load,’ I said to myself. I only needed to go 200 yards … I got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic with a load of [crap]. I learned a lot since then.” “The farm’s been in the family since 1730,” Ed said. “It was mainly a poultry farm for many years – my grandfather and father were mainly running that – but we started milking cows again in 1980. Back then we shipped our milk out to pasteurization plants, and we wouldn’t have a good year two years in a row. So we got a grant and built our own pasteurization plant as well as a small cheese plant. … We sell cheeses as well as raw milk, and now our income can be considered consistent.” The milk they receive from their Ayrshires contains a medium amount of butterfat and contains the smallest fat molecule of any of the major milking breeds, which gives it the virtue Continued on page 22 21
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of being particularly easy to make into a consistent, flavorful cheese. The small, more consistent fat globules result in a protein-dense cheese that resists spoilage in ways cheese made from milk with larger fat globules cannot. The milk is similar to goat’s milk in that regard, and those with dairy sensitivities may find that Ayrshire milk is easier to digest than milk from other cows. The milk is sold directly as raw milk, pasteurized milk or turned into cheese. The fact that it can be sold as raw milk is an accomplishment given the regulatory hurdles a dairy must face in Massachusetts. Many don’t bother – unscrupulous farmers in many states often get around such restrictions by labeling their products as pet food and specifying that the contents in the container is not for human consumption. Raw dairy devotees then snatch these up, often at exorbitant prices. Lawton Farms doesn’t resort to any of that. Its raw milk is sold on a preorder basis, and those wishing to purchase it must first attend an information session with Nancy directly. In addition to educating the consumer about why pasteurization exists in the first place, this has the benefit of making sure that they only produce what will be sold – nothing goes to waste. It’s clear that this sense of responsibility permeates every aspect of their business. As he walks the grounds, Ed talks about the importance of conservation and sustainable practices. “Areas of this country and areas of this world have been depleted of their nutrients,” he said. “If you know the history of our cotton growing, they kept moving west because they depleted the soils. You know why red clay is quite visible in the Pennsylvania area? That’s because the topsoil that was covering it washed away because there wasn’t conservation tillage and things like that. It wasn’t that way when the pioneers came.” Across from a bank of gleaming solar panels, Ed proudly explained that they were installed at the beginning of 2017 thanks to assistance from an agricultural grant. “Since the end of January [of 2017], 22
Photo courtesy of Melissa Gagne
Ed Lawton
“If you know the history of our cotton growing, people kept moving west because they depleted the soils. There wasn’t conservation tillage – it wasn’t that way when the pioneers came.” we’ve gotten three bills that we owed money on: one was for $1.27, one for $27, and one for $18 and the rest of the months were nothing. That compares to approximately $850 to a $1,000 that we were paying monthly. Now we’re down to a $1,500 mortgage.” Fittingly practical, he pointed out that these panels are the kind that must be manually adjusted. “I don’t like buy-
ing a car with power windows because they can break. Same thing here.” With a simple crank, they can be easily tilted to absorb as much light as possible depending on the season. “Murphy’s law,” Ed said; “I learned a lot from my hard knocks and try my best to avoid those situations.” He steered the conversation back to earth, touching upon what he does to
maintain the farm’s viability and the land’s integrity. “We do soil tests every three years so as not to overload the soil with unneeded nutrients from the manure,” he said. “You can change the makeup of the soil over time, and depending on what crop you put in there it will affect how much nutrients the soil absorbs. And if it doesn’t rain some summers none of it gets absorbed.” The Lawtons are planning to continue their land’s legacy as a dairy of distinction. “It’s been in a trust since the ’60s, and we’re moving it to an LLC to allow us to transfer more easily,” Ed said. It’s not clear exactly who it will be transferred to when the time comes – he and Nancy have three daughters – but what is certain is that Ed is working hard to make the farm viable well past its upcoming tricentennial. ■
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Outstanding Women D E D I C AT E D T O N E W E N G L A N D
F A M I LY B U S I N E S S E S
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 OUTSTANDING WOMEN RECIPIENTS The Family Business Association – in conjunction with The Warren Group – is pleased to introduce these 12 Outstanding Women of Family Business. The following individuals genuinely capture the spirit of the award as they tirelessly dedicate themselves to their professions. Help us honor them during a special dinner and awards ceremony on April 5th at Lombardo’s in Randolph, MA.
Patricia Day
Molly Kellogg
Owner, Needham Children’s Center
President & CEO, Hubbard-Hall Inc.
Pamela Donnaruma
Trudy Lawler
Post-Gazette, The Italian American Newspaper, Established 1896
President, A.P. Michaud Insurance Agency, Inc.
Natalie Fernsenber
Holly Markham
Co-owner, Atlas Liquors
Founder & President, European Home
Karen Fish-Will
Jenn Sturm
Principal & CEO, Peabody Properties, Inc.
President, JT Sturm Corporation
Melissa Fish-Crane
Hilary Troia
Principal & COO, Peabody Properties, Inc.
President & Co-Owner, Office Gallery International
Laurie Ingwersen
Nikki Walsh
Managing Partner & Senior Wealth Management Advisor, The Harvest Group Wealth Management, LLC
President, PK Walsh Company
Visit www.fbaedu.com/outstanding-women to register today! Call 617-896-5373 or email familybiz@thewarrengroup.com for more information.