Château Morrisette, a winery, vineyard and restaurant in Floyd County has been selected as a finalist in a University of Virginia competition that highlights and promotes the most resilient businesses in economically-challenged parts of the Commonwealth.
Established over 30 years ago near the Blue Ridge Parkway in southwest Virginia, Château Morrisette has become one of Commonwealth’s largest wineries and is a major employer in the Floyd community. Company President David Morrisette commented, “We were honored to be nominated. To be selected as a finalist for this award is humbling. The Tayloe Murphy Center is part of one of the best business schools in the country, the Darden School of Business.”
Château Morrisette is one of 14 finalists from among 21 semi-finalists and 88 total businesses statewide to enter this year’s Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards competition which honors healthy entrepreneurial-based businesses in areas facing high unemployment, high poverty and low entrepreneurial activity.
The company will now compete to be one of five winners. Winners will be announced Wednesday, September 7, at a dinner, reception and awards presentation in the Dome Room of the University of Virginia’s historic Rotunda where Château Morrisette executives will meet with state and local officials, economic development professionals, and business leaders.
“The goal of the Resilience Awards is to bring well-deserved attention to highly successful businesses in parts of Virginia that some might unwisely overlook,” commented Greg Fairchild, Executive Director of the Tayloe Murphy Center.
“These finalists demonstrate the strength of Virginia’s main street businesses even in the face of significant economic obstacles. With average annual profit growth rates of 42% and average annual employment growth rates of 20%, in areas where the average company is actually declining, these firms embody resilience.”
To help spur economic growth and entrepreneurial efforts in areas of the Commonwealth facing particularly difficult economic challenges, the Tayloe Murphy Resilience Award supports winners through on-going media coverage, opportunities to engage key business and government leaders and enrollment in a week-long Executive Education course at Darden valued at $8,000–$12,000.
The Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards are presented in part with sponsorship from Virginia Business.
To learn more visit the Tayloe Murphy Center website at http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/Tayloe-Murphy-Center
