Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/72545
COVER STORY right things," said Harry McWat- ters, an Okanagan winery vet- eran and a former vice president of Vincor Canada. "I am not sure I wouldn't have gone in and rebrand- ed it. But I have tasted a fair num- ber of their wines, probably more than I did before. I am getting good value, good quality, and I just think that they have a pretty bright future ahead of them." CULTURE CHANGE Garland built Lomac from four units in 1977 to 120 units today through the application of the Dem- ing Management Philosophy. He runs the winery the same way. The philosophy is named for the late William Edwards Deming, an Amer- ican consultant whose principles of continual improvement were wide- ly adopted by such Japanese com- panies as Toyota. When he bought the winery at auction, Curt Garland bid higher than the amount owed to its creditors, to ensure good relations with the local community. "It is a culture for all of our employees," explained Mark Sheri- dan, an Australian viticulturist who worked 10 years with Vincor before becoming Hester Creek's general manager last year. Sheridan has since hired two other Vincor vet- erans (in sales and in hospitality), giving Hester Creek remarkably seasoned management for a 35,000-case winery. "Our code of conduct speaks to things like you treat your employ- ees as your customers, and encour- age people to bring forward their opinions," Sheridan said. "It builds a culture where people are con- tributing in a positive way and they are respected. Everyone is involved here. It is part of the Dem- ing approach – to hire people and empower them." Garland, who is now 75, began Mark Sheridan, Hester Creek's general manager, believes in treating employ- ees with the same respect as custom- ers. Photo: Lionel Trudel 44 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT JULY - AUG 2012 looking for a hobby vineyard in the Okanagan after building a new home in Prince George in 1998 and a 2,200-bottle wine cellar (his first cellar). "I thought I should pur- chase 3 or 4 acres, have a viticultur- ist grow some grapes for me and have someone make some wine," he said. "Every piece of property I looked at had an expensive house sitting on it." He was reading an Okanagan newspaper in his hotel one evening in early 2004 when he spotted the receiver's advertisement for the sale of bankrupt Hester Creek. "So I phoned him, but I never did get an answer," he said. Garland, who has been in truck- ing and logging since he was 18, is not used to being put off. When the British Columbia government start- ed imposing difficult conditions on holders of forest quotas in 1988, Garland sold his Fort Nelson saw- mill and plywood plant and invested the money in a 3,000-acre tree farm in Uruguay, owning it for 20 years. When he dug into the situation at Hester Creek, he discovered that the receiver had lined up a $5.15 million offer from Quails' Gate, just enough to cover what was owed to the Bank of Montreal and other secured creditors, but leaving unse- cured creditors out in the cold. Gar- land did not think that was fair and put in a winning bid of $5.25 million that paid off everyone. WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM