{"id":169341,"date":"2026-04-18T12:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/169341\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T12:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:48:25","slug":"craft-soda-company-ready-to-hire-veterans-as-it-relocates-to-near-allentown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/169341\/","title":{"rendered":"Craft soda company ready to hire veterans as it relocates to near Allentown"},"content":{"rendered":"

A craft soda company has relocated to the Lehigh Valley, ready to hire local veterans and make the most of local warehouses.<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage Co. recently relocated its headquarters from Morris County, New Jersey, to 904 Macron Blvd., Suite 102, in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, CEO and co-founder Michael Quilty said.<\/p>\n

The company offers soda varieties such as root beer, black cherry, orange cream, \u201cRocket Pop,\u201d mojito, pumpkin spice and zero sugar as well as accessories such as mugs, straws and lids, as listed on its website<\/a>. It sells online as well as across thousands of retailers and at events like New York Comic Con and Easton Garlic Fest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat canned soda business really only happened because of COVID,\u201d Quilty said. \u201cBecause our primary model is we sell mugs with unlimited soda at events with commemorative and collectible mugs, usually with the logo of the event on it. And then when the events went away during COVID, our customers \u2014 and we have like a million people who bought our mugs \u2014 [reached] out, saying \u2018Where do I get the soda?\u2019 And so we only canned it \u2026 If COVID hadn\u2019t happened, we never would have put it in a can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s was founded in 2002. Quilty, a Navy veteran, became a franchisee in 2017 in Texas, and then purchased the company with business partners in 2018.<\/p>\n

Quilty said he was inspired to start a business and hire veterans during a reunion of Marines who had served together in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere were these amazing people who made this huge sacrifice, came back and had like no jobs or bad jobs,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat they were doing in life did not match the ribbons on their chest and the experience they had been through. And at that reunion, I decided I was going to either start a company or buy a company to employ the actual people I met, [that] I was with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quilty hired four Marines from that reunion for his company that eventually became the Wild Bill\u2019s franchise. The effort to hire veterans eventually expanded to include a veteran franchise program<\/a> that provides discounts on initial fees. Hiring veterans in the Lehigh Valley is now the goal as well.<\/p>\n

When looking to relocate the headquarters from New Jersey, Quilty said commercial real estate brokers \u201cresoundingly\u201d recommended the Lehigh Valley. He highlighted perks such as the new or refurbished warehouses in the region, lower operating costs and a great talent pool to hire from.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love it, and my only regret is we didn\u2019t do it sooner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage CEO Michael Quilty, left, and Chris Norvold, vice president of operations, stand Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in front of a Wild Bill\u2019s truck parked near the company\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Wild Bill\u2019s recently relocated its headquarters from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Jazmyn<\/p>\n

Jazmyn Rayne taps a root beer craft soda, into a commemorative mug Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Commemorative<\/p>\n

Commemorative mugs line the shelves Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Variety<\/p>\n

Variety packs of craft soda are stacked Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage CEO Michael Quilty, left, and Chris Norvold, vice president of operations, stand Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in front of a Wild Bill\u2019s truck parked near the company\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Wild Bill\u2019s recently relocated its headquarters from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Commemorative<\/p>\n

Commemorative mugs line the shelves Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage CEO Michael Quilty, left, and Chris Norvold, vice president of operations, stand Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in front of a Wild Bill\u2019s truck parked near the company\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Wild Bill\u2019s recently relocated its headquarters from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Boxes<\/p>\n

Boxes of craft soda are stacked Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Boxes<\/p>\n

Boxes of craft soda are stacked Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Jazmyn<\/p>\n

Jazmyn Rayne taps a vanilla cream craft soda, into a commemorative mug Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company recently relocated from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage CEO Michael Quilty, left, and Chris Norvold, vice president of operations, stand Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in front of a Wild Bill\u2019s truck parked near the company\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Wild Bill\u2019s recently relocated its headquarters from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 11<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s Craft Beverage CEO Michael Quilty, left, and Chris Norvold, vice president of operations, stand Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in front of a Wild Bill\u2019s truck parked near the company\u2019s new headquarters in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Wild Bill\u2019s recently relocated its headquarters from New Jersey. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nLehigh Valley retail and restaurant news in brief<\/p>\n

Bistro 1015: The restaurant will hold a grand opening April 25-26<\/a> at the Quakertown Farmers Market at 201 Station Road in Richland Township, Bucks County, serving dishes like patty melts and garlic bread grilled cheeses.<\/p>\n

Kabinett Wine Bar and Tucker Garage + Grocery: They will hold their final days<\/a> Sunday, April 19, in the 120 block of Northampton Street in Easton. Kabinett will hold its final, fully booked wine dinner on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant: Unlike other select locations<\/a>, the restaurant is not reopening at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township, company officials and mall management confirmed.<\/p>\n

Nesting Box: The ice cream shop announced it opened April 11<\/a> at 6299 Route 309 in Heidelberg Township, with a grand opening on May 23<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Twin Rivers Tubing: The tubing business went up for sale<\/a> in Easton.<\/p>\n

Pro Image Sports: The store held a grand opening April 11 at the Palmer Park Mall in Palmer Township, the mall announced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bulldog Laundry: The laundromat announced it would open soon at 592 Main St. in Slatington.<\/p>\n

In other news<\/p>\n

The Easton Public Market: The market kicked off festivities Friday for its 10th anniversary<\/a> at 325 Northampton St. in Easton.<\/p>\n

Retail Watch is a weekly column covering retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Have a question, tip, or want to see something in the area? Contact retail reporter Graysen Golter at retailwatch@mcall.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A craft soda company has relocated to the Lehigh Valley, ready to hire local veterans and make the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,60,182,436,432],"class_list":["post-169341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-business","tag-local-news","tag-retail","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}