The Charleston Metro Chamber Community Champions Awards, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, honors those businesses and individuals who made an impact in 2020.

Firefly Distillery is being awarded with our Champion Innovator Award, which recognizes a business that created a cutting-edge product or service, that has impacted their region or has reshaped their business in a significant and meaningful way.

Firefly Distillery, South Carolina’s oldest working distillery, is the birthplace of Firefly Spirits. What began as an idea for the world’s first sweet tea vodka has grown into the state’s largest distillery. Outgrowing its flagship location on Wadmalaw Island, Firefly Distillery expanded its operations in early 2020 with its new 25,000 square foot distillery in the Park Circle neighborhood of North Charleston.

After nearly 15 years on Wadmalaw Island, opening a new location would have posed its own challenges, but the pandemic took those challenges to a whole new level. As the community began to respond to the pandemic, the distillery quickly identified the need and gap in resources, taking action to help the community the best way its team knew how. With all the key infrastructure in place to produce hand sanitizer, Firefly quickly pivoted to use its distilling equipment to ramp up production and help meet demand in the Charleston community.

The Firefly Distillery team learned the ins-and-outs of permitting, production requirements and Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) regulations. The local distillery ordered ingredients and changed its bottling line from pouring liquor to filling half gallon bottles of hand sanitizer, selling out before the first run was even complete. The distillery provided sanitizer to hospitals and first responders, state departments, military and other institutions first, eventually selling it to consumers who couldn’t find it in stores.

In addition to pivoting their production, they also utilized their new, large space to host a blood drive and local food trucks. In June, Firefly launched their Safe Sounds series, offering the community an opportunity to enjoy a safe, fun night out. At a time when our community was craving a return to normal, Firefly provided a safe way to do so. In February of 2021, Firefly Distillery announced the third installment of the series.

Firefly Distillery stepped up in a time that posed extreme challenges to provide much-needed resources and entertainment to our community. We are proud to have leaders in innovation like Firefly as a part of our Chamber membership and the community at large.