Aviator Brewery owners named North Carolina small business persons of the year
Aviator Brewery’s owners won a statewide honor as the Fuquay-Varina company rebuilds after a December fire and plans a rooftop steakhouse.
Fuquay-Varina’s Aviator Brewing Company has been named North Carolina’s 2026 Small Business Persons of the Year, giving Mark Doble and Walter D. “Buddy” Everhart, Jr. a statewide honor at the same time the company is rebuilding part of its campus after a fire. The award lands squarely in the middle of a real recovery effort for one of southern Wake County’s most visible hometown brands, a business that has become part of the town’s identity as much as a place to eat and drink.
The recognition goes to a company that started in 2008 as a small brewery in an airplane hangar and has since expanded into the Aviator Brewery & Taproom, Hangar Bar, SmokeHouse, Pizzeria & BeerShop, and the Morning Hangar breakfast spot in Fuquay-Varina. The U.S. Small Business Administration said Aviator now reaches tens of thousands of customers each week and employs more than 150 people across its operating entities. Ginny Vaca of the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center nominated the owners for the award, and SBA Deputy Administrator Bill Briggs toured the brewery and called Aviator a model for small-business success.
The timing matters locally because Aviator is not celebrating from a distance. Just after 5 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2025, fire broke out at the Morning Hangar Breakfast Restaurant at 688 Brewing Drive. Crews had the blaze out by 6:20 p.m., and no injuries were reported. CBS 17 reported that the fire damaged the breakfast restaurant but not the bar or other areas, and Aviator said the building was empty and the property remained open. The company said it would rebuild the Morning Hangar and make it even better.
Aviator’s broader plans suggest the business is doing more than patching a damaged space. Its website says a 60-barrel brewhouse is operating on site, and it lists expansion plans that include Aviator SteakHouse and a C-54 Airplane Bar designed to seat 40 people. A late-2026 C-54 bar project is also on the books. CBS 17 reported that a new rooftop steakhouse is in the works where the damaged space stood, underscoring how the company is using the setback to reposition itself for another round of investment and foot traffic.
That mix of growth, jobs, and rebuilding gives the award a wider Wake County meaning. In a fast-growing part of the Triangle, Aviator’s rise shows how local brands can anchor restaurants, create jobs, and keep spending close to home even after a major fire.
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