Enology & Viticulture Center at WWCC gets a new director Valerie Fayette began her new job Jan. 2. She has marketing and wine industry experience.
By VICKI HILLHOUSE of the Union-Bulletin
Selecting a new director for Walla Walla Community College's Center for Enology & Viticulture came down to the perfect blend.
Valerie Fayette's mix of marketing and wine industry experience makes her "a great fit" for the growing program that trains students for careers in the wine industry, said college President Steve VanAusdle.
"Her combination of experience, industry knowledge, community relations and leadership will only improve the Enology & Viticulture program as well as the Valley's rising prominence within the wine industry," VanAusdle said in a prepared statement.
For Fayette, who started the job Jan. 2, it fast-forwarded a plan to make Walla Walla her home.
She and her husband bought 10 acres here last May after becoming captivated by the area. They expected to move here in two or three years from Western Washington, where she most recently worked as director of marketing for Honeywell in Redmond, Wash.
"But then this job opportunity opened up. It combines academics and the wine industry into one job. For me, it's a dream," Fayette said.
"All of a sudden three years became two months. It felt right the whole way through."
Fayette succeeds founding director Myles Anderson, who left the position in 2006 and continues to serve as an active member of the program's advisory committee in addition to operating his own winery, Walla Walla Vintners.
The community college's two-year educational program emphasizes hands-on training in all facets of winemaking, from vineyard pest control to bottling.
As director, Fayette said her immediate plans include a search for a new staff member after the death of Stan Clarke, a wine industry pioneer and program instructor credited with creating the first viticulture major in the state.
Clarke, a 57-year-old Waitsburg resident who died at his home last November, was an integral figure in the program, Fayette said.
"It's a huge loss for us," she said. "I was just really looking forward to working with him."
She said a search committee will be formed, including industry and college representatives.
"We know we're never going to find another Stan," she said. "He was a student mentor, an adviser, he was setting gopher traps. He did it all."
Due to Clarke's untimely death, Fayette has stepped in as an instructor, a position she hadn't initially anticipated, but one that is helping her connect to the students.
"I love being able to learn from them and share with them and mentor," she said.
Fayette is no stranger to the wine industry, or to the area.
She spent childhood vacations on the Dixie farm of a great-aunt and great-uncle. Her maternal grandparents were born and raised here. But she said she didn't really begin to appreciate the Valley until a few years ago as she became more deeply involved in Washington's wine industry.
A 1992 graduate of Occidental College in Los Angeles, she earned her master's degree in business administration from the University of Washington in 1999. Her history in marketing includes five years as product/brand manager for Woodinville, Wash.,-based Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, which sells more than 30 million bottles of wine annually.
When the company opened Northstar Winery in Walla Walla in 2002, part of Fayette's job was introducing buyers to Eastern Washington.
She and her husband would "sit out at the back deck at Northstar and be amazed at the beauty here."
Fayette said she's anxious to spread the word about Walla Walla and continue to build on the success of the community college's world-class wine program.
"That's the goal is to continue to serve the community, make sure the education we're providing here will help grow the wine industry in Walla Walla," she said.
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Helen Wright wrote on Jan 17, 2008 11:34 AM:
" Good interest story. We look forward to seeing the success of this program. All my roots are in the Walla Walla area, including the growing of the Walla Walla sweet onion by my grandparents. I always hoped to see Walla Walla return to more of it's glory days when the down town was a thriving small town. Maybe the wine industry will be the key ingredient.
Signed,
From the other side of the state "
Helen Wright wrote on Jan 17, 2008 11:34 AM:
Signed,
From the other side of the state "