Duplin Winery Opening Day Postponed

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Opening day at Duplin Winery in Panama City Beach has been postponed.

The 39,000-square-foot facility is located on North Glades Trail and Back Beach Road and was set to open its doors on June 1st, however, that did not happen.

Duplin Winery Co-owner Jonathan Fussell says it is due to several challenges, the biggest he says is construction labor shortages.

“There’s so much construction going on in this area and you know so many good folks are out there just doing jobs for so many folks it’s hard to get them to come to us to get everything completed on our end, that and just trying to get supplies in have really held us up the most.”

The company is also awaiting a Certificate of Occupancy to move forward with the launch.

“We are waiting for CO as soon as we get the CO, we’ll be applying for our wine license and of course, we’re hoping as soon as we get that license to be open up.”

To serve guests the winery needs employees. Hiring, however, has also been a struggle. Management says their goal is to hire 74 people, currently, they only have about 10 to 13 new hires, but is eagerly waiting to bring more on board.

“They can apply and right now we’re doing interviews very quickly so we will be getting back to folks as soon as we get the actual application in and we can go through it and we can give them a call.”

In the meantime, Duplin Associates from North and South Carolina have been called in to help train.

The Panama City Beach Duplin Winery location is currently hiring bartenders, sales and floor associates, cashiers and people to work in the kitchen. Representatives say once those positions are filled, they will work on filling other positions including marketing, distributing and even maintenance.

To apply visit the Duplin Winery website.

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