him into getting a beer franchise,” Urchak said. “Charlie started the business, loading his own GMC truck, going after his own Fall City Beer at the brewery in Louisville, Ky. and coming back and delivering it that evening. He worked at a desk made of pallets.”

 

At that time, State Distributing was located on Route 50 in Clarksburg.

 

“Charlie had a radio show upstairs at WHAR and that’s how he did his advertising,” Urchak said.

 

Advertising had been Charlie Urchak’s former line of work.

 

“He was in New York and I guess he was with the press for a while, then he went to Chicago and he was there during the massacre of Al Capone,” Urchak said. “His mom told him he had to get back to West Virginia.”

 

Charlie was a hard worker and after he got his wholesale business off the ground, he began hiring drivers and carrying more brands.

 

“He got connected with Miller Brewing Company and sold Miller High Life,” Urchak said. “Back then, if he sold five cases per week, it was a good week.”

 

By the time Dianne Urchak became involved with the business – in the 1960s - there was also a Fairmont branch of State Distributing. A divorced mother of two, she took a job with the business. Initially, she worked as auditor and eventually managed both the Clarksburg and Fairmont locations.

 

“He was a good boss. We became good friends and eventually we got married,” she said.

 

The company expanded with branches also located in Morgantown and even a business venture with a partner located in California.

 

The Urchaks flew all over the globe, growing their business.

 

“There are a lot of breweries out there and we took trips overseas to visit them,” Urchak said. “We went to Holland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Cambodia, Costa Rica and so many other places.”

 

Many of the 420 brands distributed through the business today are imported.

 

“We carry Guinness from Ireland, Heineken from Holland and others from countries including Canada and Mexico,” Urchak said. “The beer comes into the port authorities in Baltimore, goes through customs, and the freight companies take it from there.”

 

In addition to the imports, State Distributing also got involved with microbrews, which Urchak predicts

 will be a fad.

 

She’s seen plenty of them come and go.

 

“There was a Billy Beer when Jimmy Carter was president,” Urchak said. “It came out and, of course, everybody bought it at first.”

 

But perhaps more amazing than the brands and the breweries is the fact that so many family members have jumped on the bandwagon. Both her daughter Jocelyn and son Edward and their children and grandchildren have worked in the business. Included are Bridgeport’s Heather Wilson Daugherty and Bridgeport High School graduates Mike and Ryan Wilson.

 

“And my great-grandsons – the twins (Chance and Caleb Daugherty) learned to do the signs,” Urchak said. “The made signs and stickers for the store windows.”

 

 In 1985, the business relocated to Route 58 between Bridgeport and Anmoore; the structure eventually housing the entire State Distributing operation. Urchak’s grandson Michael, came on board to help with the business when Charlie was in poor health.

 

“He would come spend the summer with me, mowing grass and working in the warehouse,” Urchak said. “He’s still with me as a sales manager.”

 

The business employs 35 today – buyers, delivery people, route supervisors, warehouse and office workers. There are seven drivers and a fleet of trucks. Urchak still reports to work, keeping books, paying bills and overseeing operations.

 

Charlie Urchak passed away in 1994. He never had children of his own, but his step-children and their families embraced his business. Urchak knows he would be so pleased. She is, too.

 

“Every business has its ups and downs and ours isn’t any different,” she said.

 

Urchak still has in her possession an Amish buggy with a surrey on top – which was used for promotions in the early years of the business. She’s proud of the eight-decade story of State Distributing Company.

 

When the family and other employees surprised her with the Sept. 23 celebration, she turned the tables on them.

 

“She walked in and told us we were all fired,” Heather Daugherty said. 

All joking aside, Daugherty - Dianne Urchak's granddaughter - said the family feels extremely blessed and fortunate to be part of the business which Charlie Urchak began. She hopes it will continue to be passed on.

 

"Although working with family can have its challenges, our love for the business and desire to see it continue on through future generations is what makes it all possible," she said. 

 

Pictured top/cover are Chris, Erica, London and Brooke Davis, Ed and Andrea Wilson, Jocelyn Wilson, Dianne Urchak, Ryan and Eva Wilson, Mike, Lisa, Abigail and Miley Wilson, Heather, Chance, Caleb and Elijah Daugherty.