2 days ago
Giving Back In Argentine Wine Country
Argentina has long been a country that suffers from massive inequality. Economic instability and a series of corrupt governments have not helped to equalize the balance among the classes.
So, it is impactful to see a successful winery doing everything it can do to support its workers and the local community. I had a chance to visit the Santa Julia Winery in Mendoza and get a look at what the Zuccardi family is doing to help their neighbors and those who work at the winery.
Julia Zuccardi, one of the family owners, has overseen these outreach programs since they started more than a decade ago. They include educational and sewing lessons for adults and daycare for children. She says she was inspired by her grandmother's devotion to supporting the winery's employees who had children so they would be able to better focus on work.
I had a chance to talk to her and understand what motivated her family to give back to a rural, and often impoverished, community. All answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Liza B. Zimmerman (L.B.Z.): When did you start these programs at the winery?
Julia Zuccardi (J.Z.): The relationship with the community has always been part of our DNA. In 2008, my grandmother Emma spearheaded the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project, we inaugurated the first gym for our employees and were already considering other educational projects. By 2011, the CSR initiative continued to grow, and we opened classrooms to help our employees complete their secondary education and established a summer school program.
We have two Cultural Centers, one in our estate in Maipú and the other in Santa Rosa, which are home to sewing workshops, gyms, kindergartens and school support centers, among other programs.
L.B.Z.: What inspired you to open these training centers?
J.Z.: Our family has always valued the land where we live, understanding that this includes the people that live there. As a family-owned business, we have always been committed to social responsibility.
We believe that true equality and the provision of real opportunities are both best achieved through education. That is why we see it as essential for our employees to finish their studies.
L.B.Z.: What skills and services did you originally want to offer and how have they changed?
J.Z.: The services, which were initially more recreational, took shape over the years, until they became more formal and endorsed by the local government. Our high school graduation program is a good example, as are the kindergartens.
We also have a program to facilitate the reintegration of women working after they have had a child. It allows them to return to work in stages, so they can continue with their professional and personal development and not have to choose between two worlds.
L.B.Z.: How many kids use the daycare services?
J.Z.: Today more than 80 children who are from a month and a half to 12 years old attend the center. Unlike other centers, we also provide educational services throughout the year.
L.B.Z.: What types of classes are taught?
J.Z.: Training is provided in sewing, finance and finances and industrial production processes, among others, in order to improve the quality of what they are learning to produce.
L.B.Z.: How have some of these women used these skills to get jobs?
J.Z.: Some of them do work for our warehouse, but they also have outside clients. Now they are expanding their services to include printing and embroidery among other things.
L.B.Z.: What kinds of activities are done with the kids during the day?
J.Z.: Our classrooms focus on different activities than the what children would experience in a regular schools. The main objective is for the winery to take care of the children while their parents work.
L.B.Z.: What would you say the ratio of winery's workers kids are non-winery workers?
J.Z.: We give priority to the children of employees who work in the company. The proportion that we try to maintain is 60 percent children of our workers and 40 percent children from the local community. The idea is that everyone can take advantage of the opportunity to be part of these spaces.
L.B.Z.: What other types of services in Mendoza has your example inspired among other wineries or industries?
J.Z.: In Mendoza we were pioneers. We had looked at some models from other companies and industries, but we implemented them based on our own philosophy. We wanted to have projects that not only improved the quality of life and well-being of our employees, but also of the community.
