Spirits Board, Virginia
Purpose
The Virginia Spirits Board is established within the Department. The purpose of the Board is to foster the development of the Virginia spirits industry by expanding spirits research, increasing education, and promoting the production of ingredients necessary for alcohol distillation and the production of spirits in the Commonwealth.
Term
Following the initial staggering of terms, nonlegislative citizen members shall serve terms of four years, which shall begin on July 1 of the year of the appointment. No nonlegislative citizen member shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms.
Composition
The Board shall consist of 11 members as follows: the Commissioner and the Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, both of whom shall serve ex officio without voting privileges, or their designees, and nine voting nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor, three of whom shall be coopers or maltsters and six of whom shall be owners or operators of a distillery in the Commonwealth. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be citizens of the Commonwealth. The Governor shall make his appointments upon consideration of the recommendations made by any cooper or maltster or any owner or operator of a distillery. Each entity or person shall submit two or more recommendations for each available position at least 90 days before the expiration of the member's term for which the recommendation is being provided. If such entities or persons fail to provide the nominations at least 90 days before the expiration date pursuant to this section, the Governor may appoint other nominees that meet the foregoing criteria.
A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum, but a two-thirds vote of the members present shall be required for passage of items taken up by the Board. The Board shall meet at least four times each year. The meetings of the Board shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request.
Vacant Seats
No seats are available at this time. If you are interested in joining this board in the future, please submit an application here.
Current Board Members
Mr Thomas H. Nichols
Owner or Operator of a Distillery in the Commonwealth Membership expires on 6/30/2026Mr Scott E. Harris
Owner or Operator of a Distillery in the Commonwealth Membership expires on 6/30/2026Joshua Chandler
Cooper or Maltster Membership expires on 6/30/2026Kelly Gordon
Owner or Operator of a Distillery in the Commonwealth Membership expires on 6/30/2027Mr/ Thomas W. Murray
Owner or Operator of a Distillery in the Commonwealth Membership expires on 6/30/2027Jeffrey Bloem
Cooper or Maltster Membership expires on 6/30/2027Andrew Yancey
Owner or Operator of a Distillery in the Commonwealth Membership expires on 6/30/2029Mr Mark Smith
Owner or Operator of a Distillery in the Commonwealth Membership expires on 6/30/2029