Indiana Beverage names 2025 Drivers of the Year

Indiana Beverage’s delivery drivers are recognized every year for their spirit. Last month, the company announced three Drivers of the Year from each of its locations, recognizing employees who went above and beyond throughout 2025. Each month, drivers perform their duties and are scored on attendance, punctuality, safety, delivery system performance and accuracy. At the end of the year, points are tallied to determine the winners.

Indiana Beverage’s Valparaiso location recognized Jordan Anderson as its first place Driver of the Year, followed by Mike Bilyak in second place and Jacob Peabody in third place. At Indiana Beverage’s South Bend location, Mike Daugherty earned first place honors, with Chris Merrill finishing in second place and Dan Small in third place.

Daugherty, first-place winner of the South Bend location, is finishing up his 25th year as a driver. For Daugherty, like many of his coworkers, personal pride means just as much as the award.

“Being named as a delivery Driver of the Year, personally, is about the sense of accomplishment — that I did my job correctly and that I was well liked by my customers,” Daugherty said. “I’m grateful to work for a good company and to be able to try to do my best for them every day. It’s nice to be rewarded for that.”

That sense of showing up and taking pride in his work was instilled in him from a young age.

“It’s just what I was taught growing up,” he said. “My dad always said, ‘I don’t care if you’re the CEO of a company or shoveling dirt, give it your best every day. Somebody’s paying you to do a job for them, so do it right.’ That always stuck with me.”

Second-place winner Bilyak of the Valparaiso location has worked at Indiana Beverage for nearly 25 years. When he was hired, he was looking for a place he could eventually retire from. He quickly became at home at Indiana Beverage and now cannot think of a better place to eventually finish his career.

“I love it. They treat me like family,” Bilyak said. “The owners, Bruce and Judy, treat me like I’m one of their kids, and their sons Jeff and Johnny treat me like I’m one of their brothers. It’s a family business, and they take care of everybody like family.”

Personal pride serves as a constant motivator for Bilyak. It is something he strives for every day, whether it is paying close attention to paperwork or checking products at the store.

At Indiana Beverage, the acronym PRICE is often used and stands for passion, respect, integrity, commitment, and excelling.

“You have to have passion for the ever-changing industry. You give respect when it’s due and you get it in return, and you have the integrity to do the job right, even when nobody’s standing there looking over your shoulder,” Bilyak said. “You’ve got to be committed to showing up every day and being responsible for your actions. If you do all that, excelling just comes along with it. It’s a great industry, and I’m thankful I’m in it.”

Bilyak has finished in the top 10 drivers nearly every year. He has played a role in training many of today’s drivers, including Valparaiso’s first-place winner, Anderson, and third-place finisher, Peabody.

Peabody has been with Indiana Beverage for about five years. Going from being trained by Bilyak to being part of the top three drivers alongside him was a full-circle moment.

Peabody, like his coworkers, understands the importance of taking pride in his work. It is about taking the time to double or even triple check an order before signing off. It is about creating relationships.

“My favorite part of the job is getting to see the guys that I work with and dealing with the accounts,” Peabody said. “I look forward to seeing my clients. I have relationships with all my people — I’ve known some of them for almost five years. There are a lot of Christmas cards this time of year. We all show up with enthusiasm about what we do every day. We go above and beyond for them because it’s the right thing to do. That’s expected of us.”

This standard of excellence is so prevalent that Anderson did not even think he was in the running. Anderson has been at Indiana Beverage for a little over five years and thought this year was simply the norm. 

“It feels good knowing that the hard work is recognized. The whole company always shows appreciation because they know all of us work hard the whole year. I’m not sure what would have set me apart from anyone else in the company,” Anderson said. “Working at Indiana Beverage means a lot to me. I really enjoy everybody — the company, all my supervisors and my coworkers. It’s a bunch of great people to be around, and it’s an awesome place to work.”