Tom Lix, founder and CEO of Cleveland Whiskey, a company that uses a proprietary process to accelerate the aging of whiskey from 6-12 years to 24 hours. Cleveland Whiskey also creates a series of unique finishes with woods such as Apple Wood, Honey Locust Wood, and Hickory Wood not traditionally used for barrel production. Needless to say, the startup is pushing the boundaries of traditional whiskey; Cleveland Whiskey is well into the commercialization process with distribution agreements in most of Europe as well as distribution in Japan and China.

Tom directed the Center for Entrepreneurship and taught at Lake Erie College; he was also vice president of the Cleveland Lakefront Development Corporation before coming up with an idea to develop a patented technology that dramatically speeds up the process of aged whiskey. He earned a doctorate in marketing management at Boston University. And more importantly, he learned to make spirits during his Navy days.