Meredith Meyer Grelli
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Assistant Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship
Meredith Meyer Grelli has founded and runs two beverage companies and has founded two non-profit organizations. She is an entrepreneur, author, and educator with an unsinkable interest in community and economic development.
Meredith is the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Wigle Whiskey and Threadbare Cider & Mead. Wigle and Threadbare operate seven sites throughout Western PA and distribute spirits and cider throughout the country. She also teaches Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business.
Wigle Whiskey was Pittsburgh's first distillery since Prohibition. Since beginning distilling in December 2011, Wigle Whiskey has worked to restore Pittsburgh’s legacy as the Birthplace of American Whiskey, as well as change the regulatory framework in which distilleries in Pennsylvania can operate. Meredith is a two-time James Beard Award Semi-Finalist; 2018 Imbibe 75 Beverage Professionals to Watch; the author of The Whiskey Rebellion & The Rebirth of Rye and the Founder of the Whiskey Rebellion Trail, which connects 75 distilleries and cultural sites across the Mid-Atlantic.
The Distillery has been the most awarded Craft Whiskey Distillery in the US By the American Craft Spirits Association for five consecutive years. Threadbare Ciders have won numerous medals at the Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition.
Before starting Wigle and Threadbare, Meredith worked in brand management at the H.J. Heinz Company, received her MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, worked in community development, studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Paris and received her BS in urban history and geography at
University of Chicago. While she was in graduate school, Meredith co-founded a Pittsburgh urban beekeeping organization and started the nation's first community apiary.