• 1962

    Bernie Little took a ride in the Miss Tempo Unlimited Hydroplane owned by Guy Lombardo, a famous big band leader who was filming a movie in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the time. Little was so intrigued by the vessel that he traded Lombardo a Chris Craft cabin cruiser for the hydroplane. Bernie stored his new machine in a hangar at the St. Petersburg airport where he worked selling airplane fuel to pilots.

    The boat soon captured the interest of one of his customers - August Busch III who was a descendent of the St. Louis beer brewing dynasty. Bernie took August and two of his VP’s on a high-speed boat ride around Davis Islands and in Tampa Bay. Mr. Busch was instantly interested in having his name on the boat, and Mr. Little was accepting of the sponsorship opportunity. Thus began one of the most successful owner/sponsorships in all of motor sports history.

  • 1972

    After 10 years of Bernie Little’s winning tradition with the Miss Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane, he was awarded an Anheuser-Busch distributorship in central Florida.

  • 1975

    Bernie Little Distributors constructed a new distribution facility in Lakeland, Florida, which tripled the beer storage capacity.

  • 1984

    The company purchased the Anheuser-Busch brand distribution rights for an additional five-county area in south central Florida and a distribution center in Belle Glade, Florida.

  • 1985

    A distribution center in Sebring, Florida, was opened.

  • 1995

    Bernie Little Distributors was the most highly awarded Anheuser-Busch wholesale distributor in the country.

  • 1997

    Bernie’s son, Joe Little, took over the day-to-day operations of the distributorship.

  • 2003

    Bernie Little Sr., the most successful owner in the history of unlimited hydroplane racing, passed away and a new era began.

  • 2012

    Bernie Little Distributors was selected by
    Anheuser-Busch as the top wholesale distributor in
    the nation. With that achievement, the company was
    the first wholesaler to be awarded the highly coveted
    Big Jake trophy, which was delivered by the famed
    Clydesdale horse team.

  • 2019

    Bernie Little Distributors is currently looking to expand in both of its locations due to volume and market share growth. A piece of property in Highlands County was recently purchased, and plans are in the works to build a brand new state-of-the-art warehouse to replace the existing Sebring facility.

 

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