Challengers & Icons Podcast Series

Season 2. Episode 5: Dave Kyrejko, Co-Founder of Industry City Distillery Jonathan Ford, Designer and Founding Creative Partner of Pearlfisher, speaks to the people behind the brands of the future who understand the need to harness creativity, design and bold ideas to create success. Here Jonathan speaks to Dave Kyrejko, Co-Founder of The City Foundry and Industry City Distillery. Dave Kyrejko’s inspiration to start a vodka distillery was actually a by-product of a happy accident: by using a scientific method of fermentation instead of the more traditional approach, Dave inadvertently found a more efficient way to make a spirit that was far superior to the competition’s. In 2011, Dave decided to turn his happy accident into a business and assembled an unlikely team from across the country: five utility guys, all younger than 30, all fascinated with improving processes, all with resumes totally void of any distilling experience. Industry Standard Vodka is now their baby, a unique sugar beet vodka that boasts