Don Watts (born 1956 or 1957) is an American farmer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the former CEO of Watts Brothers Farms and Frozen Foods in

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima R ...

which was later acquired by

Conagra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

, the owner of Zephyr Ridge Vineyard, and the founder of Swiftwater Cellars, a winery in

Suncadia, Washington Suncadia is an unincorporated community and resort in Kittitas County, Washington, covering an area of 6,300 acres (25.5 km). It is located approximately 80 miles (130 km) east of Seattle in the Cascade Mountains between Roslyn, Cle Elu ...

. Watts and his wife, Lori, are the namesake of the pediatric center in

Providence Health & Services Providence Health & Services (since 2016: Providence St. Joseph Health) is a not-for-profit, Catholic health care system operating multiple hospitals across seven states, with headquarters in Renton, Washington. The health system includes 51 ho ...

' facility in

Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby c ...

. Watts also served as a member of Governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again ...

's advisory council for

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

Early life

Watts was born to an

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 202 ...

, and grew up "humbly" in

Tri-Cities, Washington The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities ( Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. The cities border one another, making the Tri-Cities se ...

, where he spent his summers as a

farmworker A farmworker, farmhand or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harv ...

. One year, after working on an

irrigation system Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develop ...

on a farm, Watts' boss challenged him to get into the potato farming business. In the 1970s, Watts followed the advice and purchased a plot of land in

Burbank, Washington Burbank is a census-designated place (CDP) in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States, where the Snake River meets the Columbia. The population was 3,291 at the 2010 census. Named for Luther Burbank, the city is located just east of Pasc ...

, and focused his business on

vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...

where he saw opportunities in profits around packaging and selling produce to other businesses, becoming a primary potato supplier to

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Watts Brothers Farms

In 1977, Watts and his brother, Doug, founded Watts Brothers Farms in Kennewick. In 2001, Doug sold his stake to Don out of growing concerns for the risks and significant debt the company held. By 2007, Conagra foods was the farms' largest customer, purchasing 18% of the company's $100 million in annual production. To reduce risk, Watts requested Conagra cut their purchasing down to 15%, which led Conagra to instead acquire the 20,000 acre farm and the entirety of its operations, including an organic dairy facility.

Zephyr Ridge Vineyard

In 1994, Watts planted a 300-acre vineyard in

Horse Heaven Hills AVA The Horse Heaven Hills AVA is an American Viticultural Area in southeastern Washington, and is part of the larger Columbia Valley AVA. The Horse Heaven Hills AVA borders the Yakima Valley AVA on the north and the Columbia River on the south ...

, 30 miles south of

Prosser, Washington Prosser () is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Washington, United States. Situated along the Yakima River, it had a population of 5,714 at the 2010 census. History Prosser was long home to Native Americans who lived and fished a ...

. The vineyard supplies grapes to several wineries in Washington, including for two award-winning wines. The vineyard is jointly owned by Watts and Hogue Ranch, an award-winning winery, and was developed by Wade Wolfe, who helped shape Washington's wine industry.

Swiftwater Cellars

In 2007, Watts founded Swiftwater Cellars in Suncadia Resort, near Roslyn and

Cle Elum, Washington Cle Elum ( ) is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, Kittitas County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 1,872 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. About by car from Seattle, Cle Elum is a popular area ...

. The winery opened in 2010. The winery overlooks one of the resort's golf courses, Rope Rider, and hosts its pro shop. The winery's 41,000 square foot property also features a restaurant, Hoist House, and an outdoor concert venue that seats 2,500. The band

Lonestar Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music group from Nashville, Tennessee. The group consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboards, acousti ...

has played at the venue. There is also a boutique, which is run by Watts' wife, Lori, and a family friend. Swiftwater Cellars has won several awards for its wines.

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

named the winery in one of its 55 best honeymoon destinations in 2021. In 2017, Watts opened a second location in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

, but it was forced to close in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Personal life

Watts married his wife, Lori, at age 17. As of September 2010, they had two sons and one grandchild. In 2007, Watts was selected by Governor Christine Gregoire to serve on Eastern Washington's advisory council. In 2008, Watts and his wife made a multi-million dollar donation to the Kadlec Foundation to build a new pediatric center in the Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, Washington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Don 1950s births Farmers from Alaska Farmers from Washington (state) Living people People from Cle Elum, Washington People from Kennewick, Washington People from Ketchikan, Alaska People from Roslyn, Washington People from Tri-Cities, Washington