Riverbend Malt House of Asheville, North Carolina, and Weldon Mills Distillery of Weldon are among the four top small businesses of the year in the 2024 Small Business of the Year Awards, sponsored by Business North Carolina magazine.
2024 marks the 29th year of Business North Carolina honoring the contributions small businesses make to the state’s economy. Applicants must be based in the Tar Heel State and have been in business for more than five years, have less than 100 employees, and be independently owned and operated. Among 49 nominees, four winners were selected on the basis of demonstrated accomplishments in the preceding 12 months and success in overcoming business obstacles, supplemented with professional references.
Led by two serial accomplishers, Bruce Tyler and Michael Hinderliter, Weldon Mills Distillery committed itself to becoming the most accomplished distillery in North Carolina and on equal footing with the long-time legends of the spirits world. The desire to create, distill and deliver something different is the distillery’s driving force. “We at Weldon Mills represent what is possible when desire meets conviction, layered in hard work and passion,” says Tyler.
The distillery is one of Riverbend Malt House’s longstanding customers.
“We are proud to receive this recognition of the great work of our employees,” says Riverbend Malt House co-founder and CEO Brian Simpson. “As the first craft malthouse in the Southeast and one of the largest in the country, we feel we have a particular industry responsibility to demonstrate that craft malt can help customers differentiate their beers and spirits through the use of high quality malt sourced from local, family owned farms and produced in an environmentally conscious manner. We call this ‘Malt with a Mission’.”
Earlier in the year, Riverbend Malt House made the Inc. 5000 fastest growing private companies list for the third consecutive year. The malt house was also awarded a malt quality award in the prestigious Craft Maltsters Guild’s 2024 Malt Cup competition. “Great employees making great malt from great grain is our not-so-secret formula,” Simpson adds.