Dean and Nancy Rogers started John 15 Vineyard on their home farm near Scranton in 2003. Originally planting just a few vines in the front yard as landscaping, they soon decided that a working vineyard might be a way to improve the income potential on their small acreage. To improve their knowledge, they attended a class at Somerset Winery on how to grow grapes. Believing this was something they could do successfully, the Rogers purchased 100 more vines to add to the few already in their yard and started their vineyard.

Early on Dean and Nancy decided their vineyard would be a non-alcoholic vineyard, which means they do not grow grapes for the purpose of wine-making. Initially Nancy made jams and jellies with their grapes but she soon realized they had more grapes than they knew what to do with. This is when they contacted the North Central Iowa Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for help on what to do next.

With help from SBDC Regional Director Lisa Shimkat, Dean and Nancy decided to try and penetrate some new markets, do more advertising, and redesign their marketing materials, especially the look and functionality of the vineyard’s brochure. Lisa also helped the Rogers connect with the Region XII Council of Governments, which now includes a map on its brochure to help customers find the John 15 Vineyard. The SBDC also gave the Rogers invaluable advice on what to do with their extra grapes and how to go about selling them.

Even with SBDC help and the growth of the vineyard the Rogers had additional troubles they had to overcome – animals and the weather. They had to develop a system to keep deer, raccoons, and birds out of the vineyard. Dean installed an electric fence around the vines and put netting over the branches and leaves. Even with these safeguards in place they still lose many grapes to weather; vines can be damaged in extreme cold, causing some grapes not to grow in the summer.

The Rogers increased their vineyard to 365 vines on one-half acre, growing mainly three types of grapes: Concord, Bluebell, and Fredonia. Nancy uses the grapes that are not sold fresh for baked and canned products, such as jams, jellies, candies, cookies, pies, and juice. The grapes can also be frozen and used throughout the year.

In addition to growing their vineyard, the Rogers employ three part-time employees at harvest time. Nancy has recently retired and spends most of her time working on the vineyard. The Rogers are valued members of the Greene County Chamber and Development Group and are staples at area farmers’ markets where there is frequently a line for Nancy’s amazing grape pie.

Nancy says, “Our experience working with the SBDC has been very positive. Lisa Shimkat met with us at the Carroll Chamber office a year or so ago. She made suggestions on how to build our business. The SBDC designed our product brochure and prints them for us at a reasonable price. I keep in contact with Lisa by e-mail and share our successes with her. She continues to be supportive, answers questions and makes suggestions.”