that lived by that same passion to design and sell over 1000 log homes a year. In his previous positions Tom was heavily involved in customer research, government compliance, contract execution and negotiations as well as systems for performance evaluation and improvement. He draws on his broad experience to anticipate the customer’s needs and exectations. Growing up in Midwestern farm country, Tom developed a down to earth, values oriented, hard working style.

During his travels in business, Tom developed a passion for enjoying food and wine. He became a student of food and beverage as he oversaw the development of food services at Bass Pro and supervised two large format venues. In the early 90’s, he attended several wine seminars and dinners at BPS owned Big Cedar Lodge as a member of the executive committee. Tom was hooked almost instantly and began to develop his own modest wine cellar, holding wine tastings for family and friends. As he traveled he was able to visit wineries wherever he could. Long before he met Jack Tanksley, Tom had spent a lot of time in Northern California as Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing of Con Agra’s farm stores. It was a much later wine country trip to California with Jack that convinced him that he wanted to live his passion.

Tom’s operational strengths combined with his affinity for selling and passion for superior customer service, great food, and wine make him an integral part of the growth and success of the Vintopia team. (click here to email Tom)

Tom Riess, Director of Strategic Planning for Vintopia, has been a key operational player in developing several world class companies. He has a passion and reputation for exceeding the customer’s expectations. As Vice President of Bass Pro Shops over-all, retail endeavors, Tom built the foundations of that business, rooting them deeply in the principle of exceeding expectations. He grew their retail division from 1 to 20 mega-stores in just five years. Later, as Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at the world’s largest manufacturer of log homes, Tom built a sales team of 60 agents
STRATEGIC PLANNING DIRECTOR
Tom Riess