Vineyard Ventures: Uncorking Success for Women in Business

Southern Arizona Women in the Workforce Presents…

“Vineyard Ventures: Uncorking Success for Women in Business”

Join us Feb 16 for a winetasting tour plus a showcase of female owned businesses (including a few wineries).  We will hear success and failure stories from local business owners who have applied for SBIR/STTR grants and get helpful insights on how to succeed.

SPACE IS LIMITED!

The cost of your registration includes:

• Transportation to/from the vineyard on a charter bus
• Guided tour of the winery estate and distillery
• Gourmet Lunch
• 22oz engraved stemmed wineglass to keep

The chartered bus will depart at 1:30pm SHARP from the UA Tech Park at Rita Road at 9070 S. Rita Rd. Lot 6 (south of 9070 building). The bus will return approximately 6:30pm. *Note – AZTC, UA and the Tech Parks are not responsible for anything that happens to parked vehicles. Please ensure no valuables are left in your vehicle and it is locked.

Flying Leap is a vertically integrated American wine and spirits producer headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. They have wine production facilities located in Elgin, Arizona and collaborate with the Hoffmann & Girotti families to produce wine in Mendoza, Argentina. They also operate a world-class distillery co-located adjacent to the winery in Arizona. The company’s wines and spirits are cellared in Elgin and Mendoza. They grow their winegrapes in southeastern and southern Arizona, as well as in the shadows of the Andes mountains and contract fruit out of the famous Les Collines vineyard in Walla Walla, Washington.

Attendees will also be able to enjoy wine tastings from AZ Hops & Vines, Sonoita Vineyards, and Wilhelm Family Vineyards and chat with these various winemakers about their enology, technology and viticulture.

About our Presenters:

Callie Groth is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of BlackBar Engineering – an engineering firm that specializes in the design, development, and manufacturing of autonomous air and ground vehicles, tactical tools, and expeditionary equipment for US military, foreign military, and private security organizations. BlackBar is the only certified Woman Owned Small Business in aerospace and defense aircraft manufacturing. Callie holds an MBA in Business Strategy & Entrepreneurship, and a BA in International Diplomacy & Chinese from the University of Arizona.

Robert Futch is Co-Founder of Delta Development. With a background in mechanical engineering, Robert, along with his co-founders, set out to transform point-of-injury care by providing blood transfusions on the front lines and at the scene of car accidents. As the CTO, Robert’s expertise has been instrumental in securing $3.8M of SBIR grants and attaining ISO 13485 certification for the company’s FDA registered factory in Tucson, Arizona. Delta’s portable blood transfusion equipment has now saved thousands of lives in 24 different countries since launching the first product in 2021. Robert is expanding Delta’s impact to address critical challenges in vaccine transport, organ transport, and advance Delta Development’s mission to revolutionize emergency healthcare.

Kolu Wilson serves as SVP, Workforce Solutions and Partnerships at the Arizona Commerce Authority where she focuses on ensuring Arizona’s talent ecosystem aligns with the business needs in target industries. Through partnership with academia and industry, Ms. Wilson develops innovative talent programs to grow Arizona’s robust talent pipeline. Ms. Wilson is a Senior Executive with over 15 years of experience managing and administering workforce and economic development programs including serving as Workforce Administrator for the State of Arizona (Arizona Commerce Authority and Office of Economic Opportunity), Assistant Commissioner with the State of Minnesota – Department of Employment and Economic Development and leading regional workforce programs for Amazon Web Services. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Studies from the University of Minnesota and Juris Doctorate from Arizona Summit Law School. She is a Licensed Attorney in the State of Minnesota. Kolu is currently earning her Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) certification from the International Economic Development Council.

About our Sponsor:

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state’s leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: recruit out-of-state companies to expand their operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to grow their business in Arizona and beyond; and partner with entrepreneurs and companies large and small to create new jobs and businesses in targeted industries.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a federal government program administered by 11 federal agencies for the purpose of helping provide early-stage research and development funding to small technology companies (or individual entrepreneurs who form a company).