‘Every woman has a story.’ Elaine Pivinski, founder of Franklin Hill Vineyards, talks about how she built her business

April Gamiz/The Morning Call

Elaine Pivinski, founder and owner of Franklin Hill Winery, and Chief winemaker Bonnie Pysher hug during a tour Tuesday, March 15, 2022, in Bangor. Pivinski is one of the first women to run her own winery, and seeks to empower other women. Franklin Hill, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is the oldest winery in the Valley.

Photo courtesy of Franklin Hill Winery/The Morning Call

Elaine Pivinski, founder and owner of Franklin Hill Winery, holding keys to a purchased Mack truck. Photo courtesy of Franklin Hill Winery

April Gamiz/The Morning Call

Elaine Pivinski, founder and owner of Franklin Hill Winery, shows off some wines, including the winery's most popular, Sir Walter's Red, during a tour Tuesday, March 15, 2022, in Bangor. Pivinski is one of the first women to run her own winery, and seeks to empower other women. Franklin Hill, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is the oldest winery in the Valley.

In the early ’90s, Elaine Pivinski desperately needed workers to help with production at her growing winery on Franklin Hill Road in Lower Mount Bethel Township.

She knew where to turn to find the hardest-working people: Moms waiting on the side of the road for the school buses to drop off their kids.

Pivinski, a divorced mom of two, gave her female workers the flexibility to work while the kids were in school. Family was always first.

Pivinski, one of the most well-known female business owners in the Lehigh Valley and the operator of the Valley's first and oldest winery, built her business on the idea that every woman, including herself, has a story.

"We’ve come a long away," said the Franklin Hill Vineyards’ owner and founder.

Four decades of wine, made by women

Pivinski, 74, never knew when she was growing up that she would become one of the Valley's top business people.

"I wanted to be a mother and a wife," she said. "My mom never pushed me to be anything."

She married Charles Flatt and the couple purchased a 35-acre farm just outside Bangor in 1975. Pivinski started doing some research.

While they had considered planting apple trees, Pivinski learned that Cornell University was experimenting with French American grape hybrids. At that time, she decided to start the vineyard.

In ’81, Pivinski brought on a friend to help with the business — Bonnie Pysher, who later became Franklin Hill's winemaker. Like Pivinski, Pysher didn't start out intending to be a winemaker. Pysher, who at the time had 3-year-old twins, was looking for something to do to get her out of the house and have some much-needed adult interaction.

Despite her lack of any professional experience, Pysher had something you really need to be a winemaker: The ability to tinker and assemble things until they work together.

She could fix cars and machines. So, the jump to making wine wasn't so far a leap. Wine is all about putting together the right pieces.

She also had Pivinski who allowed her to dabble without micromanaging. Now, four decades later, Pysher sits every day at a desk in a temperature-controlled, 55-degree room near all the wine she's creating. Just above her desk are a few of the medals her wines have won.

Franklin Hill's wines win awards over and over, all year long, at competitions across the country. Just recently Franklin Hill Vineyards’ Vidal Blanc earned a gold medal in the white hybrid varietals category at the prestigious L.A., Invitational Wine & Spirits Challenge.

For Pysher, she's stuck by her friend and Franklin Hill all this time because Pivinski just lets her shine.

"It's a great environment to work in," said Pysher, who lives less than two miles away.

It was in 1987 that Pivinski's life — and the vineyards — took a defining turn. Her marriage had ended and the business became a two-woman operation.

She admits she was nervous going out on her own with the winery, but she had the self-confidence that got her through.

And a plan B.

"You always have to have a fallback," Pivinski said. "My dad lived in the Poconos and I knew we could move up there."

The two women kept at it and just as it all seemed too impossible, their wines earned three medals, one of them gold, at a Penn State winemaking competition in 1989. That's when they kicked the winery into high gear.

They built a growing business staffed by mostly women and mostly moms, who worked in a supportive and flexible environment.

It wasn't until 2006 and nine years of negotiations till she could buy out her ex-husband, whose name was still on the winery. She finally could call the winery hers.

Keeps on growing

In 2013, a change in state law opened the door to a new side of her business, one that would be led by her son, Adam Flatt. He started Social Still in South Bethlehem, offering small-batch, ultra-premium spirits.

Another big change came soon after: Wine could finally be sold in supermarkets. Wegmans was the first to carry Franklin Hill wines and now her wines top the list of bestsellers. She quickly added Giant, Redners and Weis locations, as well as state stores, ShopRite and Turkey Hill, to her growing list of retail customers. And there's more big-box retail on the horizon.

It's so much growth in her business that Pivinski can't ship her wine in a van anymore. She bought herself a Mack truck.

They have also outgrown their space on Franklin Hill Road. Pivinski bought a property in Plainfield Township and plans to develop it into a bottling and distribution center as well as a restaurant and event space.

There's a room in her winery that puts that 40-year trajectory of growth in perspective. On an old metal shelf is a contraption she and Pysher used back in the day to hand bottle their wines.

"We could do like 75 cases over two days," Pivinski said.

In that same room is a new bottling machine that does 2,300 to 2,400 bottles an hour. In 24 minutes the machine can produce 64 cases.

Creating a path for others

Today, despite the seemingly better environment, women are still the minority when it comes to owning a business in Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2021 Pennsylvania Profile, 39.4% of businesses are owned by women. Nationally 48.4% of businesses are owned by women.

Pivinski is a female pioneer in the Valley because of her strength, her compassion and her ability to connect with people, said Tony Ianelli, CEO and president of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.

"Her impact has been as great, in my opinion, as any woman before her in the Valley," Ianelli said. "When she started her march to the top it was a time when not as many doors were open. It was a tougher climb. You needed a strength of character and a tenacity and she has that along with a personality that's really relatable."

Despite four decades of unpredictable weather (including tropical storms, hail, surprise frosts and soggy summers) and a never-ending pandemic, Franklin Hill Vineyards will mark its 40th anniversary this year.

"I’m still here," Pivinski said of her business. "And not only that but I’m growing."

Pivinski plans to throw a big party this June with the release of a special wine — a final vintage from her DeChaunac vines.

"It is delicious," Pivinski said of the wine, the name of which will be unveiled at the party.

The secret to her business’ longevity and success: She always believed in herself and those around her.

"I needed to prove myself after my separation and divorce," Pivinski said. "I knew I could make it because I had self-worth. You have to know how to present yourself. I have a lot of compassion and intuition on what it takes."

Pivinski told a story about a customer who had stopped by the winery once for a tasting.

"I see my staff who were all annoyed with this customer that had come in and nothing could make her happy," Pivinski said.

Pivinski didn't take any of it personally. She instead took the woman to the production area to show her how the wines are made.

"All of a sudden — and you could tell her aura was not happy — she said ‘you just made me feel like I matter," Pivinski said.

The woman, who was a teacher in NYC, had had a bandage on her arm from where she hurt and was out on disability.

"She said ‘you were nice to me’ and I’ll never forget that," Pivinski said. "You don't know what people are going through."

Every woman has a story.

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