[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 13, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING FETZER VINEYARDS

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 13, 2018

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today along with my 
colleague, Representative Jared Huffman, to honor Fetzer Vineyards upon 
the occasion of its 50th anniversary in operation.
  Fetzer Vineyards was founded in 1968 by Barney and Kathleen Fetzer of 
Mendocino County, California. The couple produced wine under the 
company's flagship Fetzer label with the help of their eleven children. 
Though the family sold the business in 1992, Fetzer Vineyards has 
carried on its founders' legacy of social responsibility. It is now the 
world's largest winery certified as a B Corporation, meaning the 
company meets high standards for environmental and labor practices.
  For decades, Fetzer Vineyards has been a leader in organic farming 
and sustainability. In the 1980s, the winemaker converted all of its 
Mendocino County vineyards to organic methods. Of the 960 acres Fetzer 
Vineyards has in cultivation today, 700 are certified as organic and 
the other 260 are biodynamic, which means no chemicals are used in the 
grape-growing process. In 1999, Fetzer Vineyards became the first 
vineyard to operate on 100 percent green power. It reported and 
verified its greenhouse gas emissions to The Climate Registry, a non-
profit, as early as 2005. By 2014, Fetzer Vineyards had become the 
first winery to achieve TRUE Zero Waste certification. These 
achievements and others are a shining example for the agricultural 
community. They prove that economic success and environmental 
conservation go hand in hand.
  Fetzer Vineyards knows that a business only thrives when workers do 
too. The company is enormously proud of its diverse management team, 
half of which is made up of women or people from underrepresented 
groups. All 300 of the vintner's employees earn above a living wage, 
receive health care benefits and are incentivized to volunteer in the 
community. In addition, Fetzer Vineyards encourages worker initiative. 
Many of the company's landmark environmental achievements were made 
possible by employee projects like internal waste audits. In this way, 
Fetzer Vineyards shows what can be accomplished when businesses do more 
than take care of the bottom line. Fetzer Vineyards' workforce 
investment pays for itself through the ingenuity of its employees.
  Mr. Speaker, Fetzer Vineyards is the type of socially responsible 
company that every American business should strive to be. It is 
therefore fitting and proper that we honor Fetzer Vineyards here today.

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