Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that global food and beverage giant PepsiCo will expand its current facility in Forsyth County by adding sales and service call center operations. The company plans to create 195 jobs and invest $7.5 million during the next three years in Winston-Salem. The project was made possible in part by a $400,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.
“The Pepsi brand was born in North Carolina more than a hundred years ago, and its roots in the Tar Heel State have stretched out and grown ever since. This is a name known around the globe, but we think of it as our own. Pepsi knows what a great place North Carolina is to do business,” said Gov. Perdue. “My top priority is jobs, and we are making that happen, both by recruiting new companies to North Carolina and by helping old friends grow larger and thrive.”
Pepsi Beverages Company (PBC), the North American beverage business of PepsiCo, operates the customer service center in Winston-Salem. PBC employs approximately 70,000 people in North America, of which approximately 900 work in Winston-Salem. PepsiCo employs another 2,700 at facilities in Charlotte, Cherryville, Midland, Rutherford and Raleigh. In addition, independent Pepsi bottlers in North Carolina employ approximately 725 people, and Pepsi Bottling Ventures – a joint partnership between PepsiCo and Suntory – employs another 1,700 people.
Salaries for jobs created by this incentive package will vary by job function, but the average annual wage for the new jobs will be $36,077 plus benefits.
“The U.S. is the single biggest beverage market in the world, accounting for 25 percent of global beverage revenue” said Darren Clark, director of Government Affairs for PepsiCo. “A big piece of what enables this critical U.S. business to grow is exceptional service to our customers. We need top quality people and a strong business environment to deliver what PepsiCo calls Performance with Purpose, and North Carolina proves – once again – that it can help. Our commitment to growth, coupled with our commitment to operating in responsible, sustainable ways, is what we seek to deliver each day.”
The One NC Fund provides financial assistance, through local governments, to attract business projects that will stimulate economic activity and create new jobs in the state. Companies receive no money up front and must meet job creation and investment performance standards to qualify for grant funds. These grants also require and are contingent upon local matches.
“North Carolina ranked second in the nation for job growth over the past year, and it’s because companies like Pepsi recognize the top flight business climate that we have built,” said Sen. Linda Garrou, of Winston-Salem.
“North Carolina’s leaders had the courage during the depths of the recession to continue investing in education, training and transportation,” said Rep. Earline Parmon, of Winston-Salem. “Those investments are paying off with a highly skilled workforce that is encouraging companies like Pepsi to expand or relocate here.”
North Carolina continues to have a top-ranked business climate. Through Gov. Perdue’s JobsNOW initiative, the state works aggressively to create jobs, train and retrain its workforce, and lay the foundation for a strong and sustainable economic future.
Through use of the One NC Fund, more than 45,000 jobs and $8 billion in investment have been created since 2001. Other partners that helped with this project include: the N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Community Colleges, the City of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and Wake Forest University.
For more information about PepsiCo, including job opportunities, go to www.pepsico.com