Illinois wine industry takes on powerful forces in Springfield

Situation

For most of its existence, the Illinois wine and grape industry, located mostly downstate, has been perceived as a hobby industry; a group of family farmers who produce wine because they enjoy doing it. But in recent years, the one-time hobbyists have become a true force, growing to an annual $250 million industry. Despite its size and stature, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association remained not well-known in Springfield and its issues were not familiar to most policymakers.

The strategic precariousness of this position became clear when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states had to change the ways they dealt with in-state vs. out-of-state wineries. Seizing the opportunity for market dominance, legislation was advanced by powerful interests in the beer and wine distribution industry that essentially would have put the cork in the growth of the Illinois industry.

Strategy

Stricklin & Associates had previously helped the IGGVA secure state support to help the industry thrive and develop. But this represented a high-stakes legislative firefight.

The imperative was to put a human face on the issue to underscore the difference between real family farmers and powerful distributor lobbyists who sought to put them out of business. We conducted a media outreach strategy that included generating stories in daily and weekly papers, and conducting editorial board interviews with the largest-circulation newspapers in Illinois. We had little time to educate policymakers and consumers in urban areas who knew little about the Illinois wine industry.

Every newspaper that editorialized on the issue, from the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times to the Rockford, Springfield and Carbondale papers supported the Illinois wine point of view.

We framed the issue in the legislature and developed messages and written testimony for IGGVA leaders. At a crucial legislative hearing, approximately 50 members attended in their work clothes, underscoring the threat to real people who work with their hands.

Result

Although the fight continues, we successfully beat back the initial legislative approach that would have been catastrophic for the industry. We have continued to negotiate with other interests in the industry and to educate public policy officials.