This feature is part of our 2024 Next Wave Awards.
When Matt and Bryan Quigley graduated from college in the mid- and late aughts, respectively, the Pennsylvania natives got to work building their careers. For Matt, that meant pursuing a future in entrepreneurship; a few years after being recruited out of college to help launch franchise restaurants, he left to help develop business plans for budding owners to secure equity. Bryan, on the other hand, was pursuing a career in finance.
But in 2013, both siblings found themselves living back home in Pennsylvania pondering their next move. Then, they asked each other a question that would change the trajectory of their futures: Should we start a vodka company? The two brothers didn’t know much about producing spirits, but they learned while tinkering with distillation equipment and small-batch runs in their parent’s basement in Montgomery County.
Credit: Jeff Brown
A couple of years later, their business plan caught the eye of Clement Pappas. Pappas, who previously operated a third-generation, Vineland, N.J.-based juice company, received the proposal from a friend of Matt and Bryan’s at his birthday party. Having recently sold the juice company, Pappas had a years-long non-compete in non-alcoholic products, but spirits were on the table. Curiosity piqued, he met up with the two Quigleys, drank some vodka, and ultimately joined the team as an investor along with his brother Zach.
With funding secured, Matt and Bryan were able to sign a lease on a distillery space and Stateside Vodka
