 | Building Momentum in the West |
Comerica finds Great Opportunities in the Golden State and in the Valley of the Sun, where entrepreneurship is alive and well, and where good ideas help people and the environment.
For Wente Vineyards, the key to making great wine stems from successfully running a family owned and operated business for more than 125 years. Now managed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Wente family, the winery farms nearly 3,000 acres of estate vineyards in the Livermore Valley, San Francisco Bay and Monterey County.
Wente Vineyards is California’s oldest continuously family owned and operated winery. Carolyn Wente, vice chairman and former president of Wente Vineyards, says Comerica played an important role in her company’s growth and its addition of a lifestyle business that complements and enhances the core business of growing grapes and making wine.
“Comerica understands the supply and demand cycles of the wine industry, and they’ve been very supportive of our restaurant, the concert series and other additions to our business,” said Wente.
At age five, Allyson Ames started developing her culinary skills by making breakfast for her mother. At age 17, she earned the title of Best Young Chef in America. Her dream was to own a bakery. That dream became a reality after Allyson teamed with her mother, Sondra, in establishing Wonderland Bakery. In its first year of operation, the bakery had revenues surpassing $1 million.
The bakery’s success has given Allyson and Sondra the chance to give back. They founded the Thanks a Million Cookies Foundation, where a percentage of Wonderland Bakery’s profits are distributed to philanthropic causes.
The mother-daughter team is working with Comerica to set up funding for a nationwide product launch. “We have developed great relationships with our Wealth & Institutional Management banking team in Costa Mesa,” said Sondra. “Comerica is a partner in our success as we grow our business.”