Director, risk management
E. & J. Gallo Winery
Modesto, CA
Ever since a college internship with Chubb motivated him to pursue a major in risk management and insurance, Jeff Wilson hasn’t looked back. After graduation, Wilson took on a risk management position with Cummins, a designer and manufacturer of power generation equipment and supplies. Today, Wilson leads a staff of six in overseeing insurance, enterprise risk management and business continuity planning for E. & J. Gallo Winery, the largest exporter of California wines.
“At the beginning of my career, my focus was on insurance placement, loss prevention and claims management,” Wilson says. “Throughout my career, I have learned that these are just the minimum expectations. With everyone being a risk manager in their own right, the risk management department can, and should, be a valuable resource for the organization by providing valuable risk identification and management solutions that are meaningful, measurable and actionable.”
Wilson says his latest focus for E. & J. Gallo has been on business continuity planning and disaster preparedness. “Having robust mitigation efforts and adequate insurance is fantastic, but once a loss event happens, it is critical to get back in business as soon as possible,” he says. “By thinking through the response and recovery procedures ahead of time, business continuity planning allows our operations to respond quickly and efficiently. That’s critical in the beverage industry, where keeping your product on the shelf is vital to remaining relevant to consumers.”
