Business
She Heard It on the Grapevine
By Rebecca Dorman on July 1, 2009 7:54 AM
- Andrea McBride works in the vineyards.
Faced with the threat of global climate change, businesses increasingly are focused on the development of sound environmental practices. Young entrepreneurs such as USC College alumna Andrea McBride ’07 are at the forefront of this worldwide green business movement.
McBride, 27, is co-founder and chief executive officer of Lineage Imports, a boutique importer specializing in New Zealand wine and specialty products, and co-owner of St. Luke’s Estate Wines. Her wine brand, eco.love wines, is a wholly owned subsidiary within the New Zealand Wine Co. and is set to launch in the United States this summer.
McBride spent her childhood in New Zealand, where her family grows and harvests grapes for wine, but she was not initially interested in the family business. She came to the United States after USC offered the gifted athlete a full athletic scholarship to participate in varsity volleyball as well as track and field.
Once in Los Angeles, she promptly recognized the unique business opportunity her upbringing afforded her. “I realized the potential for the wine business, specifically from New Zealand,” McBride said.
The simple mantra “be a tidy Kiwi” was ingrained in her head from an early age and still guides her current business practices. As an island nation at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand already has begun to experience the effects of global warming. “If I can make simple changes in my life and business to help maintain our environment, why not?” she said.
For McBride and Lineage Imports, running a green business is more than just talk: The New Zealand Wine Co. was certified through New Zealand’s carboNZero program, making it the world’s first carbon neutral winery.
The internationally accredited carbon footprinting program recognizes businesses such as McBride’s that measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and assists them in offsetting remaining unavoidable emissions. “This means from vineyard to consumer, we have measured, managed and mitigated all aspects of our business supply chain to earn a ‘carbon neutral status,’ ” she said.
McBride built her business on the principles of quality, education and community involvement. First and foremost, she strives to make great wine accessible to both casual and educated wine drinkers. The purity of the air, land, water and soil in New Zealand creates the perfect conditions. “We produce gorgeous specialized wines at a great price that anyone can enjoy without extensive knowledge,” she said.
Her secondary aim is to provide wine drinkers with a gateway to further education about sustainability. By providing a quality green product, McBride hopes to inspire consumers to make more environmentally friendly choices in other areas of life.
At an April green jobs panel — part of Earth Week at USC — McBride spoke to undergraduates about the unique mix between her business philosophy and environmental goals.
She considered the panel a great opportunity to share her journey as a green entrepreneur with USC students. “I hope I can inspire and motivate young people to get out and start stimulating the economy in a financially productive, green way,” she said.
A deep connection to USC and the local community was instrumental in shaping McBride’s philosophy of environmentally and socially responsible business. When asked about her hopes for the university itself, McBride said, “I would like to see USC become an even more sustainable university in the near future.”
McBride is taking active steps toward making this dream a reality. Starting this fall, antipodes — Lineage Imports’ water brand — can be ordered from the USC Sustainability Web site. A portion of each sale will be donated directly to the sustainability effort at USC. “I aspire to introduce compelling wine and specialty products to the world while simultaneously giving back to communities in need,” she said.
A recent graduate, the international studies major sees an enormous opportunity for College students to make an immediate, positive impact on the environment. She recently created an internship program called “Hustle Green” for USC undergraduates with an interest in green entrepreneurship, in which participants will be directly involved with the USC/antipodes project. McBride hopes to attract students with various majors and skills who are interested in the possibilities of green business and sustainability.
TAGS: environment, globalization, innovation, sustainability
Latest Business stories
- Warren Bennis Receives Leadership Award January 29, 2010 6:30 AM
- A Sense of Completion January 22, 2010 7:50 AM
- USC Marshall to Co-host Branding Event January 14, 2010 7:22 AM
-
For Journalists »
-
USC in the News
for 2/6 to 2/8/2010 »-
Los Angeles Times featured the USC Rossier School’s centennial gala, which took place February 1. USC President Steven B. Sample was honored with the Global Education Leadership Award, and USC alumna Cindy McCain was honored with the Dean’s Alumni Achievement Award. “It’s rare for someone who’s lived as long as I have in politics with my husband to be speechless, but I truly am,” McCain said. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa introduced Sample, recounting his work in raising USC’s stature globally, being open to international students, and understanding USC’s position in Los Angeles as “the gateway to Asia and Latin America.” Nearly 350 people attended the event, including Sen. John McCain; Ed Roski, chairman of the USC Board of Trustees; Barbara and Roger Rossier, for whom the Rossier School is named; John Katzman, Princeton Review founder and benefactor of an endowed chair at the Rossier School; and alumni and longtime USC supporters Debbie and J. Terrence Lanni and Verna Dauterive.
The Chronicle of Higher Education included USC in a chart on international fundraising by higher education institutions. USC has received $2.9 million from international philanthropic funds, and is estimated to have more than 6,000 foreign alumni, the story stated.
The Chronicle of Higher Education featured Paul Debevec of USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, who won an Academy Award for co-creating a light stage capture device and image-based facial rendering system that has been used in movies like “Avatar.” The award will be presented at a formal dinner on February 20, the story noted. Asked whether the technology could be applied to education, Debevec said: “Absolutely, yes. Maybe there’s a little rendering of a chemistry professor at the side of the screen who smiles at you when you get the question right and frowns when you get the question wrong. [In perhaps 10 years] that computer might, through its Web cam, look back at you, see where you’re looking on the screen, see how engaged you are, and actually adapt itself to trying to teach you in the way that it seems to be working the best. Just like one-on-one tutoring.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education featured linguist Paul Frommer of the USC Marshall School, who created the language Na’vi for the Golden Globe-winning movie “Avatar.” “Doing this kind of work as an academic is not going to advance your research reputation. It’s not going to result in publications in peer-reviewed journals,” Frommer said. “But it just may push the world forward in the way it’s turning on young people to the wonders of language”
Los Angeles Times reported that the 22nd annual USC Libraries Scripter Award was given to “Up in the Air” novelist Walter Kirn and to USC alumnus Jason Reitman and Shelton Turner, who adapted Kirn’s book for the screen. Los Angeles Times ran a second story about the Scripter Award.
-
-
Campus News
- Capital Connections
- USC faculty, staff and alumni in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento
- In Print
- New and recent books written or edited by USC faculty and staff
- Family Matters
- Achievements and awards
- Obituaries