Benedetto Franco ’06

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

Presented to an Albright alumnus/a or alumni couple for outstanding service and accomplishments in at least one of the following areas: community, state, nation, church, profession, academic and/or service organizations.

Ben Franco ’06 is the owner of Wine Themes, a company focused on helping small family-run wineries throughout the US. find an audience in Pennsylvania. Franco is also the founder and former owner of Winedown Café & Wine Bar, the first and only wine focused restaurant/bar in Berks County. Franco’s passion for wine also drove him to pursue many advanced accreditations including The Court of Master Sommeliers Level II and the Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Wine. Franco’s career path has led him through many industries via various different roles held, including field service engineer, controls technician and process engineer. Franco worked for several of Berks County’s leading corporations such as Dana Corp, Lucent Technologies and Arrow International.

Franco has served as an Albright trustee since 2020. In 2018, he hosted a welcome event for President Fetrow at Winedown, and has participated in Albright alumni networking events, Albright on the Avenue and in the Business Leaders Forum and Alumni Business Fair.

Franco graduated from Lincoln Technical Institute with a degree in specialized electronics technology. After completing undergraduate work toward an engineering degree, Franco switched focus and completed his BA in Business Administration at Albright College in 2006, through Albright’s degree completion program.