Press Release • Oct 10 2023

New Blood at the Pennsylvania Distillers Guild

The Pennsylvania Distillers Guild is pleased to announce that it has engaged the services of Arthur Etchells and Anthony M. Brichta to support its role in the growing Pennsylvania distilled spirits industry.

Mr. Etchells will be spearheading a drive to recruit new members from the increasing number of distillers in Pennsylvania and then help the growing organization organize its priorities in the dynamic distilling business. This will allow Pennsylvania’s distillers to better represent and communicate about important issues to policy makers and stakeholders inside and outside the state. Etchells has a deep experience in our industry having served as Philadelphia Manager for Manatawny Still Works in Pottstown, PA and most recently helping small and larger distillers alike to connect to customers at Pennsylvania Libations in the Reading Terminal Market. He will be working with the ongoing support of Signature Communications Philadelphia who will continue to provide Brand Marketing and Communications on behalf of the PADG and its members.

Mr. Brichta will be assisting the Guild and its members as the General Counsel by providing legal advice, updates, and analysis of the issues, laws, and regulations that affect distilleries in Pennsylvania. Additionally, he plans to hold a quarterly legal call with Guild members to address specific industry concerns and attend Guild meetings.

Mr. Brichta is an attorney at Norris McLaughlin’s Allentown, PA office, practicing in the firm’s Liquor Law, Licensing, Manufacturing and Distribution Practice Group, as well as the firm’s Business Law Practice Group. In addition, Mr. Brichta is uniquely suited to this role as he has owned and operated a craft distillery in the Lehigh Valley since 2014, producing a range of spirits and has taught distillation and craft distillery operations as part of Northampton County Community College’s Hospitality Management and Craft Beverage Programs.

“Pennsylvania has a strong history of whiskey and distilled spirits production and is now home to more than two hundred distilleries across its sixty-seven counties,” said Mr. Etchells. “Now more than ever, distilleries are a vital part of Pennsylvania’s growing economy by purchasing local ingredients and providing jobs in their communities. I am happy to see the PA Distillers Guild take these important steps to continue and expand its work on behalf of distilleries in Pennsylvania.”