Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Co., a division of Birmingham, Ala.-based Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United Inc. (Coca-Cola United), announced the official grand opening of its new 296,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility on Shepherd Road in Chattanooga, Tenn. This facility will serve customers, consumers and communities in Chattanooga, Tenn.; Scottsboro, Ala.; and Dalton, Ga. markets within the Tennessee Valley Division of Coca-Cola UNITED. The company invested $67 million in Chattanooga, it says.

“Coca-Cola United’s investment in this world-class sales and distribution center is tangible evidence of our confidence and optimism in our business and Chattanooga,” said Claude B. Nielsen, chairman and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola United, in a statement.  “All of this has been made possible through our dynamic partnerships in this community and our enterprise — for the past 117 years!”

Darren Hodges, director of the Tennessee Valley Division of Coca-Cola United, added: “We’ve come a long way from the Patten Parkway location in 1899 by continuing to provide the best brands, excellent customer service and being good corporate citizens. This facility gives Coca-Cola UNITED two locations with more than 600,000 square feet of total space and over 500 employees in Chattanooga. Our new state-of-the-art facility positions us for continuous growth in the generations to come.”

James Quincey, president and chief operating officer of The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, added: “This new facility is emblematic of the energy and momentum we’re seeing across our bottling system today. It’s fitting that our pioneering friends at Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United are leading the way into the future through a clear commitment to our consumers and retail partners in the place where the world first loved Coca-Cola in a bottle.”