Virginia ABC wins best practices award from national alcoholic beverage industry publication

Being an alcohol industry leader in retail, technology, education and enforcement has earned Virginia ABC the Overall Best Practices Award from StateWays magazine, a national magazine devoted to the issues and subjects that affect the 17 states and multiple local jurisdictions where government manages the sale and distribution of distilled spirits at the wholesale level.

Virginia ABC received the annual award yesterday during the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association’s Administrators Conference in Portland, Maine.

“It comes as no surprise that Virginia ABC is being recognized nationally for their efforts over the past year,” Gov. Ralph Northam said. “Whether it was assessing substance use education on our college campuses, modernizing retail store operations or helping restaurants to navigate regulatory requirements during the pandemic, Virginia ABC’s employees have consistently performed well above expectations despite the challenges we have all faced during the pandemic.”

“I’m honored that ABC was recognized for our diverse and varied set of programs that successfully serve all Virginians. The exceptional efforts of our 4,700 employees enabled us to accomplish new and innovative approaches to public service.  It is a testament to their work that Virginia ABC is being recognized as the best of the best,” said Chief Executive Officer Travis Hill. “Our values of accountability, service, integrity and performance excellence drive everything we do at Virginia ABC and it’s evident from this year’s StateWays entries that we have the right recipe to bring good spirits to Virginia.”

StateWays recognized Virginia ABC for innovations in six categories:

• Best Consumer Education Program: Holiday 2020 Campaign “A New Twist on Toasting,” which showed ways for consumers to celebrate safely with their favorite spirits.
• Best Consumer Education Program: Signature Cocktail Recipes and Videos, which featured ABC- and local mixologist-created cocktail recipes for the at-home bartender.
• Best Technology Innovation: Retail Point of Sale System, which illustrated ABC’s efforts to pilot and roll-out a new system in all stores that streamlined day-to-day operations and provided for a better customer experience.
• Best Retail Innovation: PickIT and Zebra Handheld System, which described an in-house built application to allow retail store staff to process orders more efficiently and a mobile handheld scanner to allow staff to better serve customers.
• Best Retail Innovation: Home Shipping and Curbside Pickup, which included new options for customers to obtain products from their local ABC store and reduce person-to-person contact.
• Best Stakeholder Outreach Program: Virginia Higher Education Substance Use Advisory Committee Statewide Campus Assessment, which described how ABC coordinated the assessment of 29 Virginia universities and colleges to identify strengths and areas for improvement regarding substance use education, prevention and intervention programs.
• Best On-Premise Partnership: Cocktails To-Go and Licensee Privileges, which emphasized ABC’s actions to amend its regulatory processes and issue a series of adjusted privileges for licensees to continue to do business during the pandemic.
• Best Enforcement Program: COVID-19 Response, which highlighted the Bureau of Law Enforcement’s efforts to work with approximately 19,000 licensed establishments to maintain public safety and adhere to health guidelines during the pandemic.

StateWays’ editorial staff judged all the award entries and deemed the totality of Virginia ABC’s entries deserved the highest recognition.

“Virginia ABC is a perennial winner of our Control State Best Practices Awards,” said Jeremy Nedelka, StateWays magazine vice president. “This year the agency repeated its 2015 win as “Best of the Best” overall winner, thanks to consistent innovation and operational excellence in a number of areas. We’re proud to recognize them with this honor.”

The digital version of the fall 2021 issue of StateWays magazine featuring Virginia ABC as the Overall Best Practices Award winner is available at stateways.com/digital-archives/digital-edition-fall-2021.