THE TASK AT HAND: Joyce Rigby's IE skills all culminate in a
bottle. Connoisseurs at Black Wolf Vineyards in Dobson, N.C., have
enjoyed Rigby's red and white varietals for two years. Prior to
Black Wolf, Rigby provided winery design and business planning services
to eight other wineries including Childress Vineyards. As a vineyard
consultant, she performs site evaluation, cost analysis, and vineyard
installation and management. "This business was young when my
winemaker-husband and I moved to North Carolina, where there were only
12 wineries at the time," says Rigby. "People who were
interested in producing quality wine didn't even have business
plans. Their needs energized me into thinking about how I could help
them."
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EVER THE IE: Despite the popularity of newly established degrees in
enology and viticulture, Rigby says that her classical IE training has
casted her success in the industry. "I have ideas that I
haven't seen anywhere else, all that come from the mindset of
efficiency and ergonomics," says Rigby, who aims to design sites
and processes that are efficient for aging winemakers. "One of the
most satisfying aspects of my job is knowing how to design something
that will work. I'm working in a winery that I designed, and I
realize that I did a pretty good job!"
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