TIFTON — Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. (UNITED) broke ground on a planned 300,000 square-feet sales center and warehouse in Tifton on Thursday, Jan. 23.  

The new state-of-the-art facility will cost an estimated $60 million and employ approximately 200 people.

“Today we are excited to break ground here in Tifton and are so looking forward to the project here that’s going to allow us to optimize our distribution and network better with our customers,” said Rick Terrell, division director for the Savannah River Division, of which Tifton is part. “This new Tifton sales and distribution center will be 300,000 square feet. We’re situated on a little over 80 acres of property and we’ll distribute approximately 4.5 million cases of non-alcoholic beverages out of this facility.”

He said that the company is looking forward to being a part of the community.

“We have already found strong partners with Brian Marlowe, Mayor Julie Smith, our community leaders and our state officials,” Terrell said. “We are committed to being involved in our communities. We’re committed to partnerships. This strategic location is imperative as we invest in this community and as we invest in our business for decades to come.”

Company President and CEO John H. Sherman attended the groundbreaking as well.

“Our foundation of family, our service to our customers, but more importantly today our service to our communities started way back in the early 1900s,” Sherman said. “I would just tell you that serving our communities is really part of our DNA and it has been for 118 years, and it will continue to be one of our top priorities.”

The facility, which will be clearly visible from I-75, is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2021.

Congressman Austin Scott attended the ground breaking and addressed the attendees.

“This is a $60 million investment in our community and a state of the art facility,” Scott said. “This doesn’t happen without the state and the local leaders working together.”

County Commission Chairman Grady Thompson and Tifton Mayor Julie Smith gave remarks at the groundbreaking as well.

Thompson urged attendees to move to Tifton, saying the area is “coming of age.”

Smith said that Tifton is looking forward to welcoming Coca-Cola UNITED to the Tifton family of businesses.

“With partnerships come friendships and I know that the friendship between Coca-Cola and this great community will be a strong bond that will be beneficial to us both.”

Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc., founded in 1902 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is the second largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in North America and the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the U.S.

Coca-Cola UNITED has approximately 10,000 associates located in more than 60 facilities across six southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee).

In 2017 and 2018, the company acquired 12 sales centers and two production facilities in Georgia, giving Coca-Cola UNITED the entire state as part of its bottling territory.  

Historically significant franchises within the Coca-Cola UNITED family include Chattanooga, the world’s first Coca-Cola bottler; Atlanta, home of the worldwide Coca-Cola System; and Columbus, Georgia, development site of the original Coca-Cola formula.