George G. H. Coates, Jr is a 25-year veteran of the fine wine and beverage alcohol industry, where he held executive roles on the distribution side of the industry with Southern Wine & Spirits (now Southern/Glaziers) and on the supply side with W. J. Deutsch & Sons (now Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits). In 2012, he and a partner launched an importing company focused on supply chain efficiencies allowing high quality wine to be delivered to the consumer at a lower cost than traditional shipping and packaging would allow, which was subsequently sold to investors. George serves as board chair for the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based state-level free-market think tank. He serves as a board member of Americans for Fair Treatment, an advocacy group focused on educating, equipping, and empowering public servants to receive fair treatment and transparency from public sector unions; the Chestnut Hill Conservancy and Historical Society, a local open space and architectural conservancy protecting the nation’s first urban accredited land trust; and the Henry Foundation for Botanical Research, the first research botanical garden founded by a woman, Mary Gibson Henry. A Philadelphia native, George studied at the Haverford School in Haverford, PA, and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He resides in both Philadelphia and Washington with wife, Dr. Victoria C. G. Coates. They have two children and one dog, all three of which migrate with them occasionally.
