It’s simple enough to say Fred Dettwiller is the president and CEO of DET Distributing, the Nashville-based beverage distributor founded by his father. It’s much harder to encapsulate all that the successful 78-year-old executive does in so few sentences.
The Tennessee native and Vanderbilt University graduate ran his own business in Clarksville soon after he tossing his commencement cap into the air, and then took over DET and its 23 employees in 1973. Today, the private company, operating from its MetroCenter headquarters, has more than 150 employees and is the state’s largest distributor (with more than 100 brands). DET’s annual revenue is estimated at $20-50 million.
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