Business Economics

Description

Mandate: To strengthen the economic and operational foundation of the BC wine grape industry by enhancing business capacity, risk management, and financial sustainability through innovation and supportive services.

Within the working groups, we have two opportunities to participate:

  • Working Group Member:
    Each working group will have between 6 and 10 Members. These individuals will attend regular meetings and help shape and deliver key priorities and projects. They’ll also track progress, respond to emerging issues, and ensure sustainability, inclusion, and knowledge sharing are built into all group activities.
  • Working Group Community:
    This is an open group with unlimited seats for those who want to stay informed, engaged and contribute their knowledge. Community Members will receive early updates, be invited to provide feedback on draft ideas, and help guide the group’s direction through ongoing engagement.

Working Group Responsibilities: 

  • Attend and actively participate in working group meetings (quarterly minimum).
  • Contribute to the identification, development, and delivery of key strategic priorities.
    • The Advisory Committee will approve strategic priorities, project budgets, and deliverables recommended by each group. Where strategic overlaps occur, groups will coordinate with one another to ensure aligned implementation.
  • Develop and maintain a tactical action plan along with key metrics for tracking success.
  • Implement Working Group projects, as approved by the Advisory Committee
  • Embed sustainability, DEIA, and knowledge transfer into all activities.
  • Meet on an ad-hoc basis for emerging events.
  • Submit progress reports and final summaries to the Program Delivery Team and Advisory Committee.

Click here to submit your interest in the working group community

Skills & Qualifications:

Working group participants should be actively engaged in BC’s wine grape industry or a closely related sector (i.e. agriculture, agri-tech, food & beverage) and bring relevant experience to the working group theme in at least one of the following areas: 

1. Agribusiness & Financial Planning: Experience in agricultural or small business financial planning and management and an understanding of farm or winery economics, including cost structures, pricing strategies, and profitability metrics.

2. Technology & Operational Efficiency: Background in agri-tech adoption, digital tools, or scalable production solutions and familiarity with automation, data-driven decision tools, or digital farm management platforms.

3. Shared Services & Cooperative Models: Experience developing or managing shared services and / or knowledge of co-op structures / collaborative business models.

4. Regulatory Navigation & Policy Insight: Familiarity with regulatory frameworks affecting wine grape growers and wineries (e.g., licensing, land use, labour).

 5. Benchmarking & Business Intelligence: Experience in business benchmarking or performance analytics for vineyards and skilled in designing or interpreting KPIs for operational and financial decision-making and sustainability. 

Desired Skills: 

  • Strategic business planning and assessment
  • Economic analysis and performance benchmarking
  • Collaborative problem-solving and facilitation
  • Communication with policymakers and regulators
  • Understanding of funding/grant mechanisms
  • Change management for technology adoption

Other Working Groups

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Long-Term Industry Strategy

Climate Resilience

Organizational Alignment

Market Development