CURWENSVILLE – Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery was founded in 2005 as a family-owned business in Curwensville. The winery offers a wide variety of handcrafted wines and fermented fruit beverages.
Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery’s products can also be found at surrounding grocery stores including Walmart and Giant Eagle, as well as restaurants, Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, convenience stores and other places alcoholic beverages are sold.
Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery has also been in contact with the Clarion University Small Business Development Center since its inception.
But it reached out at the beginning of the pandemic for assistance in multiple areas including: COVID-19 relief, human resources and marketing & advertising.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many businesses adapted to create new products and new ways of operating. Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery was no exception with the launch of its new product: BUMBERSHOOT®.
With the help of the Clarion University SBDC, Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery was able to effectively market and advertise its new product, BUMBERSHOOT®, which was created during the pandemic.
This new product allowed Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery to enter the new market of selling beverages in beer distributors.
BUMBERSHOOT® is a handcrafted fermented fruit beverage available in four flavors: raspberry, apple, blackberry and peach raspberry.
The Clarion University SBDC also assisted Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery through a partnership with the Clarion University marketing department on its student-led marketing projects.
The students were tasked with creating a marketing plan for Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery with the help of the SBDC and any resources or services offered.
Furthermore, the Clarion University SBDC aided Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery with updating their employee handbook and adapting it to include all COVID-19 safety precautions and protocols.
The SBDC provided Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery with information about the COVID-19 CARES Act programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.
The SBDC assisted Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery with applying for this program and answered questions throughout the application process.
Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery received funds from the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program for the amount of $70,000 and $82,000 from the second round PPP.
With the assistance of the Clarion University SBDC, Starr Hill Vineyard & Winery has been surviving the pandemic and has saved three full-time positions and 23 part-time positions.