come to rely on workers with H-2A visas, who have 10-month contracts and plan to return to their home countries when those contracts end. The government considers their employment full- time, and “What people don’t know is that it’s a federal program that’s highly regulated,” she says. Employers must pay workers a mandated minimum wage of $19.97 an hour and provide transportation and free housing, which is subject to inspection and requires approval. In addition, they must advertise jobs in four states and show that that they can’t get takers, thereby demonstrating that bringing workers from outside the United States is a necessity. Steve Dutton of Dutton Ranch in Sebastopol, to whom Kruse is married, has been bringing in guest workers for several years, and this was one of the most successful years yet. “You’re always anxious when you have to bring people here from Mexico, but the process was really smooth this year,” she says. “Sonoma County, given our topography, it would be a long time, if ever, that we could be a mechanized industry,” says Kruse, pointing out that grapes are labor-intensive, and so a strong workforce is crucial for local agriculture—which has a variety of crops, including apples, plums and peaches as well as grapes. The wine industry is predominant, however, and she conducted a survey a decade ago, with results showing wine grapes as a $13 billion business. “That would be a little hard to replace,” she says. “It’s essential that our vineyards survive and thrive.” She adds that properties zoned for agriculture accounted for 26% of Sonoma County’s properties in 2022, and their owners paid $77 million in property taxes. “That’s a vested interest,” she says, pointing out that agriculture is a major part of the local economy, and to maintain it, workers who come from other countries are
Other workforce development programs through Canal Alliance include customer-banker training. [Photo by Paige Green]
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