Post-Fire Sonoma: Economic Impact

You saw the devastation on TV. It looked as if most of Sonoma and Napa counties were burning. Unhealthy smoke filled the air. That part is over, but thousands of homes were lost, tens of thousands of people displaced, billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild. Of the hundreds of wineries a couple were lost and another couple dozen had some, mostly minor, damage.

The fires affected not only Sonoma and Napa, but adjacent Mendocino, Lake and Solano counties though Sonoma took the biggest hit, more specifically Santa Rosa and parts of Sonoma Valley. Most of Sonoma County is untouched by the fires.

Sonoma and Napa don't just rely on wine sales for economic health, but on wine tourism. Annual tourism spending in 2016 was nearly $2 billion in each county. The fear is the fires will keep visitors away. That is certainly happening in the first weeks after, but what about the longer term? There's a lot of local media saying, "Hey, we're okay. Come see us!" Some of it comes across as a little desperate and a bit insensitive to the losses, even when realizing you have to get on with your life (and livelihood). Usually time fixes most problems and I believe that's the case here.

Meanwhile there are lots of ways to give money and time to help those who lost their homes or businesses. There are a number of benefit events and even products to help. Spearheaded by Russian River Brewery a number of craft breweries are releasing a Sonoma Pride beer with all proceeds from sales going to help fire victims. I'll be doing my part this weekend perhaps starting with the Bear Republic / St. Florian's collaboration Sonoma Pride beer. The head brewmaster from the Bear, along with four other employees, lost their homes to the fire; the founder of St. Florian's is a local fire captain.