The state's wine industry will help North Carolina recover from the recession, and it will take programs such as the N.C. Center for Viticulture and Enology at Surry Community College to create jobs, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton said yesterday.
"I know times are tough, but we have invested in innovative things like this center," Dalton said to about 500 people yesterday at the center's groundbreaking ceremony in Dobson.
The wine and grape industry has an economic impact of $813 million in North Carolina and provides about 6,000 jobs, Dalton said. The center will boost those numbers and fuel the state's economic recovery, he said.
The center will feature a teaching laboratory, a state-of-the-art winery, a special events hall and multi-use classrooms.
The center will cost about $5 million to build, and the project received state and private money, said Deborah Friedman, the college's president. It should take 12 to 15 months to build the center, she said. College officials want it to be ready for classes for the 2010 fall semester.
After the ceremony, Dalton said that no industry, including the wine industry, is immune to the recession's effects.
"But this is an industry that will grow and grow responsibly, and help the economy of North Carolina," Dalton said.
The state has more than 80 wineries, and North Carolina ranks 10th nationally in grape and wine production, according to the N.C. Wine and Grape Council. The state has more than 400 vineyards that cover 1,450 acres.
When the viticulture program began at the college in 2000, there were 21 wineries in the state. Last year, North Carolina had 76 wineries.
The center will serve the wine industry in the state and throughout the Southeast, said Deborah Friedman, the college's president.
"We are very excited about our future," she told the crowd, which included vineyard owners and winemakers.
The college has 64 full-time and part-time students enrolled in its viticulture and enology program, many of them winemakers and winery owners, Friedman said.
The college also has a 4-acre vineyard and a 2,500-gallon winery on campus, and students help in making the wine that the college sells at festivals and fundraisers.
Vineyard workers typically earn $10 to $17 an hour, according to the college. Winemakers' salaries range from $30,000 to $70,000.
Ben Webb of Mount Airy, who attended viticulture classes at Surry Community College, said that wine sales at restaurants have decreased, but wine distribution to grocery chains has increased 100 percent. Many people are not ordering wine with their dinners, he said.
Webb, who owns a vineyard in Rocky Mount, said he doesn't consider vineyards and wineries in the Yadkin Valley as his competitors.
"We are such a small industry," he said. "We are working together, and trying to help each other out."
■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.
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