The appointment of its first general manager is the next stage in the evolution of the Central Otago Winegrowers Association, its president says.
''We've evolved to the point where we're moving away from being reliant on volunteers,'' James Dicey said.
While the dedicated volunteers had done a sterling job over the years, the association was now at the stage where it needed the help of a manager to retain and enhance the strength of the brand, he said.
Glenys Coughlan, who has been chief executive of Positively Wellington Venues for the past five years, will take up the role of the winegrowers association's general manager in February.
''The skill set Glenys has will take the association to the next level in its development. She's an amazingly capable person and we're exceptionally lucky to have her taking up this role,'' Mr Dicey said.
''We're fortunate to get access to people of this calibre because they want to come to Central Otago for lifestyle reasons.''
Ms Coughlan was born and educated in Dunedin and spent many family holidays and university field trips in Central Otago.
Her background included senior business roles with Air New Zealand in Auckland and Saatchi and Saatchi in Wellington and she was chief executive of the New Zealand Tourism Industry Association for five years, he said.
She was a shareholder in public relations consultancy the Acumen Group for 10 years. Ms Coughlan said she was delighted to be able to ''return to my roots and do something where I know I can make a real difference for the region''.
The association has been in existence for almost 25 years and provides general advice on grape-growing and winemaking, information on the development of organic vineyards and conversion to organic grape-growing practices, and it organises and operates educational programmes.
It also acts as a co-operative to promote Central Otago wines.
