Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230112
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated of Charlotte, N.C., will conduct all its future vending-machine refurbishing operations in Charlotte, closing similar refurbishing centers in Roanoke and Mobile, Ala., company spokesman Laurence Steele said Tuesday.
Coca-Cola Consolidated has been buying newer vending machines and has fewer machines to refurbish, Steele said. Also, the soft drink industry is under cost pressure, Steele said, because of significant increases in the cost of raw materials.
The more senior employees in the Roanoke and Mobile refurbishing centers are being given the opportunity to transfer to other jobs within those bottling plants, Steele said. The job shakeout in Roanoke is still under way and 16 jobs are expected to be lost, he said.
Coca-Cola Consolidated employs 500 people in Virginia, including 370 in Roanoke. It also has operations in Bristol, Clifton Forge, Dublin, Martinsville and Norton.
The company had taken cost-saving measures in anticipation of the increased raw-material costs before resorting to the layoffs, Steele said. He said he doesn't foresee any more layoffs at the Roanoke plant, which he said continues to be a very "viable" operation.
by CNB