Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/44136
COVER STORY industry veteran Lou Palatella. Harden put in two solid years of hard work. "Then, Jack Brennan came looking for me," he explains. At the time, SWS of Northern California was struggling, and Harden was hesitant to come onboard the emerging Southern. "I knew Jack was tasked to find the best people possible to make Southern a success—but they hardly had any brands to sell. Jack was persistent; he even told me to put my wife on the phone. I admired his determination. I took a chance on him and never looked back." Within a year, Harden went from the chain division to running Southern's Sacramento Branch, before ending up in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993 following the distributor's attraction of two top supplier portfolios: Seagram's and Hiram Walker. Harden, who now oversees Northern California for the company, believes that Northern and Southern California are more aligned than ever these days, thanks to innovative strategies, meet- ings and reporting systems. "There's always a friendly competition that exists between us," he acknowledges, "and the demographics of our indepen- dent customers are different; but with the growth of the on- and off-premise chains, we must speak with one voice." When asked about what he's most proud of, Harden cannot single out just one of Southern's accomplishments over the past 20 years. "We have made so many advances in education, recruit- ment, technology and operations," he says. But Harden's eye is on the future, on the next generation of SWS execs. "Our future leaders could lie within today's graduates—or may already be among the thousands of sales profes- sionals in our current organization. A few years ago, we worked with two colleges—now it's up to 20," explains Harden, who is proud to see Southern Editor's Note: As we go to press with this article and consistent with its tradition of promoting from within, Southern has advised that Daul will be promoted within SWS-CA to SVP/Sales & Marketing, continuing to report to Brennan. This new, state- wide role will partner with the rest of SWS-CA leadership team, focusing on new concepts to enhance performance and competitiveness. Our congratula- tions go out to Patrick Daul on this appointment.] 48 / the tasting panel / october 201 1 Patrick Daul, VP/ General Manager, Pacific Wine & Spirits, has led the company to win a staggering 22 of Diageo's Golden Bar Awards in competition with every other state in the nation. The honor represents the sup- plier's yearly recogni- tion of top performing wholesale partners. compete with major corporations (in and outside of our industry) to source the top talent from major colleges throughout California. From future leaders to today's top innovators, Harden is aware that suc- cess at Southern has come on the back of innovation, collaboration and, above all else, teamwork. "Just as it works in the restaurant business, Jack, James, Jon, Patrick, our team of sales profes- sionals and I can be the best at the front of the house, but if the food comes out bad, we're not in business anymore. But thanks to the back of the house, the food is coming out to everyone's liking and we're in the midst of a growing success story." Patrick Daul "The multi-talented Patrick Daul put together a sales force from scratch when we first created Pacific Wine & Spirits— PHOTO: ROB BROWN