CTWJ E7: Jamie interviews Mark Beres and William Kouba

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 Guests

Mark Beres

Mark W. Beres, Co-founder, President & CEO, Flying Leap Vineyards, Inc.  
Address 342 Elgin Rd., Elgin, AZ 85611
Phone number (520) 954-2935
https://www.flyingleapvineyards.com
Social Media:  @flyingleapwines

Mark is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Flying Leap and is the company’s co-founder.  A native of Washington State, Mark grew up in Walla Walla, one of Washington’s most exclusive winegrowing regions – his formative years spent steeped in agriculture and ranching.

He has several years of successful large-scale commercial viticulture experience, including all aspects of vineyard development, operations, and harvesting. These include land preparation, efficient vineyard design, surveying, heavy equipment uses, project scheduling, and commercial planting. Mark has extensive experience in managing grapevines throughout their life cycle, from nursery to setting of fruit to all aspects of annual vine canopy management and harvest.

A highly successful entrepreneur, Mark leads Flying Leap’s core teams – agriculture, production, sales & marketing, and investor relations. Among his chief responsibilities are establishing & executing the company’s business strategies, organizing its infrastructure and promoting Flying Leap’s brands.

I am married to my wife, Michelle – a native Tucsonan, and we reside in Vail, Arizona (a suburb of Tucson). We raise Siberian huskies – Comrade, Indigo, Yukon, and Balto, plus we have a parrot named Sparky. I moved to Tucson in 2006 following retirement from the US Air Force and have made southern Arizona my home.

However, I grew up in a winegrowing region in southeastern Washington state in a small town called Walla Walla. It was there that I worked in ag pursuits as a kid, my childhood steeped in viticulture and ranching. Flying Leap began as a farming operation in southeastern Arizona (Willcox), with our primary goal being to sell fruit to the state’s wine industry.

Our winemaking endeavors began in 2011 when we produced a vintage from fruit we purchased in California and made under a custom crush agreement with Callaghan Vineyards in Elgin. The wines sold quickly, and we expanded production in 2012 with nearly double the process weight. In 2013, we harvested our first crop from our Arizona vineyards, and we’ve been producing estate wines ever since.   

William Kouba –

Owner of William J Kouba Insurance Agency. 
Phone: (520)-204-6702. Address - wkouba69@gmail.com

I have done many things in my lifetime, from Jet Aircraft Mechanic in the US Air Force, Epidemiologist with CDC, High School Teacher to Director of Marketing at W C Thomas General Contractors and even RV Sales.

However, after retirement, I was searching for something that would allow me to determine when and where I wanted to work, make a little bit of money and help others.  The Medicare and Health industry for the past 5 years has supplied that for me.  I have made my home here in Southern Tucson and in my spare time, I like to travel with my wife Jillian.

About Your Host

JaimeOverturfheadshotJaime Overturf
Farmers Agent, Entrepreneur
2555 N Campbell Ave
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 293-2900
joverturf@farmersagent.com

As a local Farmers® agent in Tucson, AZ, Jaime Overturf helps customers identify the insurance coverage that best fits their needs. This process is straightforward and personalized to help make them more informed about their insurance options.

Jaime has the knowledge and experience to help customers better understand their coverage options–whether that Jaime has the knowledge and experience to help customers better understand their coverage options–whether that’s auto, home, life, business insurance and more. You can connect with Jaime on Facebook.

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