Our Founders

Billy Watterson is a serial entrepreneur and lifelong learner passionate about brand building, innovation, and community engagement. Originally from Ada, Ohio, Watterson graduated from the University of Findlay with a BS Degree in Environmental and Hazardous Materials Management. After joining Sears, Roebuck and Co. at their world headquarters inIllinois, he started his first business Watterson Environmental Group in 2001, which was soon followed by several other companies specializing in recycling, environmental and hazard recovery.

In 2017, Watterson moved to the Lowcountry to open the Burnt Church Distillery. Since that time, he and Town Council Member Bridgette Frazier formed the new Brand initiative BlacQuity, a non-profit organization with the mission to elevate, empower, and promote local black-owned businesses. This initiative quickly grew into the development of Black Equity University (BEU), a comprehensive training program was designed to equip Black business owners with tools, access to networks and resources to scale their businesses in pursuit of achieving generational knowledge and wealth.

Billy and his wife Brenda created the Watterson Family Foundation and the Low Country Legacy Fund, a fund to be used exclusively in the Black community for infrastructure, educational opportunities and equity in the local economy. The Burnt Church Distillery has committed to serving the community through monthly give back opportunities, in addition to charitable collaborations with Watterson Brands’ portfolio of venues and the ongoing initiative, Watterson Means Good™. Through Help 4 Hope, Watterson Means Good™ (What is “Watterson Means Good”?) distributed $186,550 back to restaurants to reimburse them for serving 14,924 free meals to those affected by the pandemic in 2020.

By 2023, Watterson Brands expanded its footprint in the hospitality industry to include additional venues under Moon King Entertainment Group. The Bank, Hilton Head’sBeer Garden, features several dining concepts, a 55,000 square-foot beer garden, food trucks, two craft beer bars, putt-putt and a cigar and whiskey lounge. In 2024, Moon King Entertainment Group introduced Kung Fu Cantina and Side Hustle Brewing Co.’s Tap Room in Bluffton.

Other new enterprises include the forth coming Ma Daisy’s Porch (Bluffton) that will include the first Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center, and an Ada,Ohio-based brewery, Old Route 69 Brewery.

Billy serves as a trustee on several educational and civic boards, resides in Hilton Head Island with his wife, two of their four children, and two dogs.

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