Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christie Joins Coke Executives For New NJ Hdqts.

Yesterday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined executives from The Coca-Cola Company, including Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent, to cut the ribbon on a new 226,000 -square foot facility in South Brunswick. The new facility, which will employ many of the company’s 1,250 employees in New Jersey, demonstrates an ongoing commitment by companies, both large and small, to come to and grow in the Garden State. Both the Governor and Lt. Governor attended the ground breaking for the facility on Route 130 last September.

Coca-Cola’s new state-of-the-art, sustainable sales and distribution facility in South Brunswick is a 226,000-square-foot facility that ensures the retention of more than 1,000 jobs in the Garden State and offers Coca-Cola additional space for future growth. The South Brunswick facility consolidates operations from Asbury Park, North Brunswick and Parsippany into a larger, more efficient center employing more than 550 people. Since opening in October, 40 new positions have been created.

“I am proud to have a major Fortune 500 company like Coca-Cola demonstrate their commitment to New Jersey by broadening their presence in our state. Their new facility here in South Brunswick is another clear sign that our ongoing efforts to fix the state’s previously failing business climate is taking hold and working. We know that a key factor in retaining Coca-Cola was our efforts to make the state more business-friendly,” said Governor Christie. “As New Jersey continues to attract household names like Coca-Cola, there is no doubt that our reputation has grown as a national leader in economic expansion because of the pro-growth policies we have enacted.”

Through pro-growth policies, including the enactment of $2.35 billion in targeted, job created tax cuts, the New Jersey Partnership for Action and the Red Tape Review Commission, there is a renewed confidence and optimism about doing business in the state. New Jersey is starting to see real and meaningful results. From Fortune 500 firms to small and medium-sized businesses, including household names like Allergan, BASF, Honeywell, Bayer, Church and Dwight and Panasonic, companies have committed to generate and retain over 35,000 jobs, bringing more than $5.3 billion in total public-private investment to the Garden State, since January 2010. New Jersey has added nearly 50,000 private sector jobs since the Christie Administration took office.

“This opening states clearly what we and others see in New Jersey: a clear welcome mat for businesses -- large to small, established to startup, global to local and everything in between,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “Thanks in large part to New Jersey’s open, positive environment for business and investment, we chose to invest in South Brunswick to consolidate other less-efficient facilities around the state into a new state-of-the art center that ensures that more than 1,000 jobs remain in the Garden State.”

The company credits its interaction with the Business Action Center and both the Governor’s and Lt. Governor’s offices as being a part of its decision to stay and grow in New Jersey. The company is not receiving any state retention incentives. Reflecting the Administration's commitment to attracting and supporting business and job creation in the state, the State’s new Business Action Center, a component of the New Jersey Partnership for Action, provides a one-stop shop for business, combining all economic development activities under one roof, including business retention and attraction services. After the company made its commitment to grow in New Jersey in September 2010, the Business Action Center continued to work closely with Coca-Cola as it moved through the construction of the South Brunswick plant.

The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, with more than 500 brands and globally is the top provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through its distribution system, they serve more than 200 countries at a rate of 1.7 billion servings a day. Including their bottling partners, they rank among the world’s top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 employees.

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