 Brown Bottling project on track
Published June 27, 2006
By Erin Puryear
epuryear@rankinledger.com
Link to live article
Work is expected to begin by the end of the summer on a multi-million dollar project to relocate Brown Bottling Group's Jackson operations to the East Metropolitan Center in Brandon. Brown Bottling Group president Bill Brown said the company is accepting bids on the project, which he expects to cost more than $10 million.
Brown said the company will have a nearly $20 million investment in the site once the move is complete in 2007 and will bring between 150 and 200 jobs to the county.
"Everything looks good so far," he said. "Hopefully, if all goes well, by the end of the summer we'll be moving dirt."
In December, the Pepsi bottler purchased 29 acres on Miss. 18 in the industrial park from Rankin First, the county's economic development group. "By (Brown Bottling Group) creating these types of jobs and buildings, we hope this will lead others to look at this area as a high-quality area for a distribution company," Rankin First Executive Director Tom Troxler said.
Brown said the company is moving its operations to the Brandon site so it will be more centrally located.
He said the company serves customers in Rankin County and five surrounding counties.
Brown Bottling Group manufactures, bottles and distributes Pepsi-Cola and its products, including teas, juices and energy drinks. The group also supplies vending machines and drink fountains, such as those used in restaurants.
Brown also said that the company has outgrown its Jackson facilities and is landlocked. He said the company is growing faster than the beverage industry itself, which is growing 3 percent to 5 percent each year.
Troxler said the infrastructure for a large distribution company exists near the East Metropolitan Center and includes close access to Interstate 20 and to the Jackson-Evers International Airport.
The move is a consolidation of Brown Bottling's Jackson-area operations. Brown said the company's beverage distribution center on Medgar Evers Boulevard will be combined with its food service distribution center, now at Hawkins Field.
Both will move to the Brandon site, along with the company's vending distribution facility.
Rankin County Board of Supervisors president Larry Swales said the county aggressively pursues businesses like Brown Bottling Group, and that its relocation to the area will help attract similar businesses.
"We really appreciate him making the decision to come here and distribute his products from here," Swales said.
Brown said the company's nearly 160 employees will make the move to Brandon, and he expects that more jobs will have been created by the time facilities open.
"We're adding employees by the day," he said. "The impact (in Rankin County) will be what the employees spend over there on fuel, food, things like that."
Troxler said that while the plant itself will not generate sales tax revenue for the county, school and property taxes for Brandon and for the county will be generated.
Troxler said he hopes that the facility's employees will be eating and shopping in Brandon and in the county, which will drive up sales tax revenue.
"We're definitely looking forward to them," he said.
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