Foundry Distilling Company was started by Scott Bush. Scott began working on Templeton Rye whiskey in his apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2002, while a student at the Sloan School of Business at MIT. Scott’s great grandfather, Frank Schroeder, was born in Templeton and was an ''entrepreneur during Prohibition'' who made Templeton Rye at the family farm outside of Arcadia and later Odebolt, Iowa. Scott knew of his family’s involvement in the rye trade and wanted to build a business, so he founded Templeton Rye and built it into one of the most successful brands in the new craft spirits industry. Scott sold controlling interest in Templeton Rye in 2016 and started working on Foundry Distilling Company. He chose to focus on producing and distilling authentic, high-quality spirits right here in Iowa with local input, involvement and control.

Foundry Distilling is part of an exciting project at The Foundry building, which was constructed in 1899 and was known as the Rock Island Railroad car barn because it was originally built to repair rails cars. Other tenants at The Foundry include The Hall, a European-style beer hall, and The Kitchen, a nonprofit commissary that will provide kitchen space for food truck owners.