BUSINESS PERSONNEL: WINE COUNCIL OFFICERS

Tony Kooyumjian, president of Augusta Winery and Montelle Winery of Augusta, has been elected president of the new Missouri Wine Marketing and Research Council.

Other officers elected were Andrew Hofherr, vice president of St. James Winery, vice president; and Diana Holland, Thornhill Vineyard and Winery of Hartsburg, secretary-treasurer.

The council was founded recently as a result of Missouri House Bill 1240, enacted in 1998. The bill created a grape check-off program. Producers pay $3 a ton of grapes, or $3 a 160 gallons of grape juice used in making wine. The Missouri Department of Agriculture started assessing the new fees January 1, 1999.

The new five-member council will oversee the money collected, using it to promote grape and wine products and fund research and educational program.