North Gate Vineyard is a vineyard in the area where I live in Virginia which has taken strives to become a leading sustainable business in Northern Virginia. It is a family owned vineyard that started small with just a few grape vines and selling at farmers markets to a full production facility and tasting room. They have won awards both nationally and internationally and have an active role around the northern Virginia community. They support many organizations while focusing on are the Fine and Preforming arts and the Environment.

On their website, they had two main focuses, wine and sustainability. Their homepage focuses on the quality of the wine and being able to do it in a sustainable way. North Gate is LEED Gold certified. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a verification of green buildings.

To become LEED Gold certified, North Gate brought their sustainability views into reality. They are 100% powered by solar panels, use natural light to decrease energy use, use low VOC building materials, sustainable landscaping with native plants, and use “local, reclaimed, recycled, and sustainable décor”. By making sustainability a top priority, North Gate has become a business that others look to see how to successfully run a business that can be sustainable and profitable.

When looking at North Gate, they are making the sustainability aspect just as important as the business side. They are creating a model for how not just other wineries, but other businesses, can run sustainably while also being profitable. If more companies were to run with a sustainable mindset it could drastically change how we look at business models. We need to think not just about the profit of a business but how we can create businesses to have positive effects on our environment. North Gates use of native plants in their landscaping is doing just that. Using native plants is a great way to strengthen soil, control water flow and decrease need to tend to the plants. Their use of reclaimed and recyclable materials is also leading to less waste and useful ways to reuse beer bottles and reclaimed wood.

It is inspiring seeing companies in my own area striving towards sustainable development. As more companies are making efforts to switch to become more sustainable those such as North Gate provide a guide for those companies. Once they see the simple alternatives, it makes it so they are more likely to make those switches. North Gates goal to be as sustainable as they can offer a glimpse into how all companies can run their businesses hopefully in the near future.