From serving their country to serving up spirits with style, three veterans are proving that the entrepreneurial spirit knows no bounds, with a little help from Boardroom Spirits in Lansdale.
The scuba-diving-loving veterans William and Tara Lawver are the spirit scientists behind Oregon’s Copper Bonnet Distillery, which is determined to find a home on the East Coast through a mentorship with a veteran-owned veteran entrepreneurship consulting firm and a partnership with Boardroom Spirits.
Copper Bonnet is gearing up to create a new ready-to-drink lemonade cocktail and visited Lansdale recently for a little research and development at the Lansdale distillery.
"I’m here to support Copper Bonnet Gin, who has decided to invest their business in creating a new ready-to-drink lemonade here in Lansdale via their partner Boardroom Spirits,” said Lansdale Mayor Garry Herbert. "As mayor, it’s always exciting when new businesses come into our community and invest in Lansdale as our hometown. It’s great to have a veteran-owned company decide to put its roots down here and create a new beverage that we can all enjoy.”
Copper Bonnet’s 90-proof gin, according to a 2022 BevNet article, is made with ethically-sourced sugar kelp, along with ingredients like juniper, lemon, lime, and lemongrass.
It already has a burgeoning success on the West Coast, and now Copper Bonnet looks to establish an East Coast footprint.
"We’re working on getting our license in the state of Pennsylvania,” minority owner William Lawver, an Army veteran, said. "That would be a huge opportunity for us. Pennsylvania has an incredible program for distilleries.”
"We’ve been looking to bring everything to the East Coast for a period of time. We can grow regionally and then nationally,” Lawver said. "The idea is we want everybody to enjoy our product, we want everybody to contribute to ocean conservation, we want everybody to continue to support veteran organizations. Realistically, at the end of the day, we want to become a natural brand.”
Lawver said Copper Bonnet began in the middle of the pandemic. In searching industries that survived Covid, the couple discovered the spirits industry was going strong. In fact, Lawver said, it grew exponentially.
"We decided to throw our names in the hat and see if we can make it,” he said. "We chose gin as a way to support ocean conservation.”
According to a 2022 BevNet article, Copper Bonnett – named for the old school copper diving helmet used in diving – has partnered with Coral Reef Alliance and donates proceeds from each bottle sold to ocean conservation.
"We get to partnership with Force Blue,” Lawver said. "They do conservation work around the world; they take former combat divers in the military and turn them into scientific divers and have them do conservation work.”
Tara, an Air Force veteran and majority owner of Copper Bonnet, said they took a risk and found something that incorporates all the things they love into a really awesome gin product.
"I want people to know just know our brand but know us. They should feel good drinking it,” Tara said. "All these people resonate with our brand and our visions and how we try and give back to the community and conservation.”
"I don’t want it to be another brand on the shelf; I want it to be a story,” she said.
Their story would not be the success it is without 21-year Army veteran Troy Beane and his consulting business dedicated to veteran entrepreneurship, Veteran Executive Leadership.
CEO and Pottstown native Beane is a true champion for his fellow servicemen and women, who is not only investing in their dreams, but also raising a toast to their success.
With a recent investment in veteran-owned Copper Bonnet Distillery, Beane’s not just crafting cocktails; he's crafting opportunities. Beane is helping to forge a path of prosperity for those who've bravely served, like the Lawvers.
When the Lawvers brought their business concept and ideas to Beane, he and his organization not only saw value in the couple, but also the ability to set veterans up on a trajectory of financial success.
"We were struggling through the business side of things,” said Tara. "We had vision, but we needed so much more behind it. We were able to partner with VXL to bridge that gap. It’s been phenomenal and so much growth and opportunity.”
Tara said one can lose focus thinking they know it all.
"Seek out leadership and ask for help and ask for mentorship. Don’t got into it blindly,” she said. "Always be willing to learn.”
Beane said he is "in the business of giving back, in the business of investing, and in the business of business.”
"I was introduced by a fellow veteran to Bill and Tara, and as veterans, I’ll take any meeting and see where we go. They brought a bottle of gin to the meeting and we had a tasting. I’m more of a bourbon guy, but from the first taste, I said, ‘Wow, this is different. It’s sippable, it’s smooth, and a great finish.’ I got to learn a bit about how they formed the company and their mission,” Beane said.
Beane discovered the Lawvers had something that could be a national or international brand. The couple, he said, have made great strategic decisions in how they want to grow the product.
There was a passion to create a brand around sustainability and giving back to the veteran community, he said. Soon, he said, Copper Bonnet will create a self-sustaining rhythm toward growth.
"Their mission of sustainment and giving back, I felt a kinship and it resonated with my brand and my goals,” he said. "There’s plenty of investors and other agencies looking to get help for those committed to what they are doing, Their commitment to see mission accomplishment is what sets them apart.”
