CALIFORNIA: Turning in a Vintage Performance in the Inland Empire

​by Ron Starner

Lake Elsinore is a popular stop along the Southern California Wine Country trail. Photos courtesy of Southern California Wine Country EDC

Map courtesy of Southern California Wine Country EDC

​Temecula Valley is quickly making a name for itself on the global stage.

If you’re a wine enthusiast, you’re likely familiar with the wines of Napa and Sonoma Valleys. You may be less familiar, however, with the Southern California Wine Country region of Temecula Valley and surrounding towns in southwest Riverside County.
Economic development leaders in the region are working hard to change that, and judging by corporate project wins, they’re gaining traction.

From aerospace to life sciences, this stretch of Southern California in the Inland Empire is tallying an impressive roster of corporate facility expansion projects even as it grows its popular winery-based tourist business. Just ask Connie Stopher, executive director of the Southern California Wine Country Economic Development Coalition.

“Temecula 35 years ago was just a couple of stoplights. It was very rural,” she says. “We’re close to San Diego and Orange County. People could sell their $1 million condo on the coast, move here and buy a nice home for much less.”

Word is getting out as more Californians relocate each year. “Riverside is the second fastest growing county in the country,” Stopher says.
One reason for that: public safety. “Temecula and Menifee are often rated as the safest places to live in the country,” Stopher says. In Temecula, the latest crime index registers at 123 — nearly half the national average for similar‐sized cities. Riverside County’s violent crime rate is 65 per 100,000 – more than 38% below the U.S. average.

Wine enthusiasts appreciate that feeling of safety and quiet, and so does a rapidly growing collection of corporate employers in the life sciences sector. Millipore Sigma and Abbott Labs are two of the larger ones expanding in the area, notes Stopher.

“Millipore Sigma is doing a project here soon,” she says. “They do a lot of pharmaceutical manufacturing. They are a European company. Abbott also has been doing quite well. They are bringing new lines in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. We’re also growing our defense contracting business by attracting investment from parts manufacturers. Our long-term goal is to grow that industry base in the region.”

From Life Sciences to Lithium

While there are many things to like about the Temecula Valley, says Stopher, the one amenity that all investors agree upon is the award-winning wines produced here.

“We are an agricultural region in general. We grow avocados and citrus. This is where the Cuties oranges were developed and grown,” notes Stopher. “People started planting grapes here in the early 1800s. The mountains separate us from the coast. That gap allows us to grow a variety of grapes. Enough cool coastal air comes through and causes just the right dip in temperature to produce high-quality grapes. Our wines are now recognized and award-winning. We can go up against any other wine region in the world.”

Located near where Interstate 15 and Highway 79 intersect, Temecula Valley is roughly 60 miles north of San Diego and 70 miles west of Palm Springs. While the first grapes were planted by Spanish missionary padres visiting from San Luis Rey in 1820, the first commercial vineyard did not open in the valley until Vincent and Audrey Cilurzo established a local operation in 1968.

By 1984, the wine-making business had grown enough to earn an official designation as an American Viticultural Area, known as the Temecula AVA. In 2004, the name was changed to Temecula Valley AVA. In 2019, Wine Enthusiast Magazine named Temecula Valley a 10 Best Wine Travel Destination; and by 2023, the region was producing more than 500,000 cases of wine annually from nearly 50 wineries. Today, at least 52 wineries dot the valley.

Stopher says vinification businesses and the corresponding wine tourism are “a huge driver of spending. People come for the wine tasting and experiences like the casino, hot air ballooning, horseback riding, vineyards and winery tours. We get a lot of tourism from Asia and Canada.”

Stopher says her goal is to leverage the tourism appeal to attract more corporate investors. “Life sciences and pharmaceuticals are a natural fit due to our proximity to San Diego,” she says. “Aerospace is another. Smaller parts makers are already here, and we have a huge veteran population — one of the highest in the country. People finish their service and want to stay. Cleantech is another target — namely, the battery sector. We’re close to the Salton Sea, which has the world’s largest deposit of lithium.”​​

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​“All of our communities are very business-friendly. Visitors were used to hearing the negative narrative about California, but you definitely won’t find that here.”
— Connie Stopher, Executive Director, Southern California Wine Country EDC

With 2.6 million people living in Riverside County, Stopher says attracting qualified workers is not a problem. “With major highways like the 15 and the 215 going up to Menifee and Riverside, getting people here is no issue. Those highways connect in Murrieta just north of Temecula. The 15 goes north to Ontario, while the 215 goes through the City of Riverside.”
Mt. San Jacinto College serves the region with worker training and maintains branch campuses in Temecula, Menifee and San Gorgonio Pass. University of California, Riverside and California State University, San Marcos are four-year schools serving the region.

‘A Less Expensive Gem’

“We know we have the labor because about 75% of our workforce commutes out of the area every day,” says Stopher. “Many of them drive four hours roundtrip every day to San Diego to work. We have 122,000 outbound commuters. If they could work 10 minutes from home, they would drop that commute. We have workers in all varieties of skillsets — from blue-collar to high-tech — and we have great workforce training partners.”

Asked what she most wants corporate executives outside of California to know, she says, “You’re not alone in not knowing about us. Our rebrand is done. Our website is launched. We want people to know that we are open for business. We are a gem. We’re only an hour from Disneyland. We’re less expensive than you think. We compare well with Las Vegas on costs. We’re cheaper than Austin, Phoenix, Denver and Seattle. When you compare us to places like the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego and other big markets, we’re cheaper than all of them.”
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Her biggest wish? “Come visit us. After our last fam tour, one of the site selectors said that this was the least California-like area of the state. When they got here, they said, ‘Wow, this is really nice.’ All of our communities are very business-friendly. Visitors were used to hearing the negative narrative about California, but you definitely won’t find that here.”​

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