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Kurt GollnickVice Chair
Kurt Gollnick - Senior Vice President and COO, Scheid Vineyards

Kurt is the Chief Operating Officer of Scheid Vineyards Inc., one of the country’s largest independent growers of premium grapes. In 1997, it became the first independent grape grower to be publicly traded. Kurt joined Scheid Vineyards in 1988 as General Manager, Vineyard Operations.

Kurt is an active member of the wine grape growing community; he has served as President of the Central Coast Grape Growers Association and Monterey Grape Growers Associations, past chair and director of the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association, and a director of Wine Institute, representing Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. He also served as a director of the California Association of Winegrape Growers from 1989 to 1997.

He currently serves on the boards of the Center for Community Advocacy, Common Ground Monterey County and has actively been involved leading a coalition of organizations fighting to secure long-term agricultural viability, economic prosperity and affordable housing in Monterey County. Kurt served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California from 2002-2006 and as Chairman in 2004-05, the first Chairman from outside the vegetable industry in the organization’s 75-year history. For his innovative style and positive approach to agricultural leadership, the National Steinbeck Center honored Kurt with the 2006 Agricultural Leader Award.

A self-described “soccer nut,” Kurt spends his free time coaching: his CYSA (California Youth Soccer Association) Premier League team has been together for years and he is also the varsity soccer coach at Notre Dame High School. He and his wife, Janet Rodgers, manage a busy household and throw a great Fourth of July party every year.

Kurt is a Master Knight in the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine, whose slogan is “Water separates the people of the world; Wine unites them.” That phrase applies to Kurt’s problem solving style as well: he is a consensus-builder who puts his energy into finding solutions. Kurt’s ability to see the big picture and think outside the box benefits not only the wine industry but every group in which he is involved.