Grant to assist with expansion of New Kent Winery’s production

Virginia's Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bettina Ring (left) presents a $15,000 check to New Kent Economic Development Authority chairman Charles Davis (right) that will be used to assist with the expansion of the New Kent Winery.

Andre' Jones photo

Growth isn’t just limited to the population and school system in New Kent County. It also applies to local businesses, such as the case Monday morning.

New Kent’s Winery became the recipient of a $15,000 grant from Virginia’s Agricultural and Forestry Industries Development (AFID), the first for the county. The grant will be distributed through New Kent’s Economic Development Authority (EDA). The recognition ceremony took place at the winery, with more than 75 guests in attendance.

“Grants like these allows us to expand through partnerships in local county businesses,” said Bettina Ring, Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. “This winery has been in New Kent County since 2008 and has seen tremendous growth. One thing you can say about New Kent is that you feel welcomed here and you can feel the sense of community.”

New Kent Winery owner Joseph Dombroski talked about the united effort from all parties to make the grant a reality.

“As my wife has said, life is a team sport,” he said. “And that’s what we have our here, a team.

“I want to thank the people that we partnered with,” Dombroski continued. “All of us got together and that was very important as we worked with everybody and the county to get this grant.”

The grant for the winery will be used to expand production facilities. The result of the expansion will see the doubling of production, equivaling to a 120-ton increase in the next three years. In addition, more jobs are expected to be added, and New Kent Winery is the first Virginia Winery to commercially distribute premium wine kegs to sports venues.

New Kent Director of Economic Development Matthew Smolnik talked about the historic reward for the county.

“It just excites me as this is the first AFID grant for the county,” he said. “The process took about five months. The effort between county leadership, New Kent’s EDA, state government, local business partners, and the Dombroski’s was tremendous to get this accomplished.”