The beverage industry is investing “quite a bit” every day in the U.S., American Beverage Association (ABA) President Kevin Keane said on Tuesday during a policy discussion in Washington, DC, with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle.
When asked about President Donald Trump’s broader agenda of wanting companies to invest in America, Keane said beverage companies are doing just that, very focused on individual communities.
“We’re embedded and entrenched in communities across the country through our system of bottlers, generational family owned businesses who bottled and manufactured a product and take it to market. So when you see a Coke or Pepsi truck out front here in D.C. or in your hometown, that’s not Coke in Atlanta or Pepsi… that’s the local bottler. It’s its own independent company, family owned, and, you know, contributing to their communities every day,” he began.
That aside, Keane said their companies are “investing quite a bit in every day.”
“It’s part of our everyday work. Of these companies, they’re invested in their communities. They want to build their communities. And best way to build a strong America is with strong communities. So our economic impact is $324 billion in the American economy, and that’s with continued growth,” he revealed.
“We are very much a free market, pro-growth industry. And I’ll just, I’ll just give you — I had to write some of these down… So a bit why I can’t answer futuristic questions, as a lot of this is proprietary with our companies who they work great together, but they are competitors but I’ll give you a few examples,” Keane continued.
“This is all within the last several months to, in one case, a week, to late last year — Huntsville, Alabama, Buffalo Rock, a Pepsi bottler, invested $32 million and new growth facilities there,” he said.
“Keurig Dr Pepper invested $141 million in Spartanburg. And just last week, Coca Cola Consolidated, one of our bigger bottlers, was just in Columbus with Governor DeWine unveiling a $90 million investment in that community,” Keane continued. “And before that, late last year, they were in West Memphis, Arkansas, announcing a $25 million investment.”
“So these are the type of activities happening all the time in our companies… They want to build. They want to grow. And I think that’s what the President’s looking for, quite frankly,” Keane added.
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