Institute for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Education Partner
Recently, we traveled to Starview Vineyards and met with Mrs. Regina Morrison, who along with her husband, Brett, has owned this popular local business for the past 11 years.
Raised in Pennsylvania, Brett and Regina went to the same high school. A summer job (to earn enough money for a dirt bike), with a local vintner and winery owner, turned into a full time job through high school and beyond graduation for Brett. He managed the large vineyard and oversaw many of the operations. Regina went to college and majored in business administration and after graduation, she and Brett reconnected, fell in love and got married.
Brett’s “part time” job grew into passion for the business and the desire to own a vineyard himself. Regina grew up with a family owned business and felt the draw as well and together, they began the journey that led them to Starview Vineyards in Southern Illinois. That was 11 years ago and their dream has grown into a thriving business! Their daughter attends Cobden Elementary and they are happy to call this place home!
Starview is open 7 days a week and in addition to their award winning wine, they also serve food. They have indoor and outdoor seating and provide live music on weekends. Depending on the weather, the music can be played inside or out. They remodeled an existing barn into a special occasion venue several years ago and are able to host showers, parties and other events and also offer a spacious vacation rental on site. Regina talked about how having this diversity has contributed to their business growth. She also shared that her favorite part of the business is all of the people they meet and get to know. They have developed friendships with many of their customers who feel like extended family.
AJCHS student and UCCEO team member, Chesnee Marks explains what stood out to her during our visit:
“We spent our Tuesday morning with Mrs. Regina Morrison at Starview Vineyards. I was intrigued to visit two wineries back to back, because there truly is something different about every business, even when they are in the same field.
One thing from our visit that stuck out to me, was the sense of community that Mrs. Morrison has. She and her husband, Mr. Brett Morrison, moved to Union County from Pennsylvania. After learning this, hearing and seeing firsthand how much they prioritized the community really spoke volumes as to how much it meant to them. Mrs. Morrison has the interior of the winery decorated with art, created by local artists that she has connections with. She also mentioned how it is important to her that they give back as much as they can.
One thing that I found truly awesome is the community that the local wineries have with each other. Mrs. Morrison talked about how they are in constant contact with each other and work together to put on multiple events together per year. To me, this really showed how much working with others can help. I think that people too often try to compete with others and this really showed how working with others can result in both people benefitting from the collaboration.”
Thank you for another great visit, Regina!
