California-based Niagara Bottling LLC, the nation’s largest private label bottled water supplier, announced in mid-March that it would construct a new 450,000 sq. ft. facility in late 2014 and create 40 initial jobs in Coweta County. Now the company has updated those plans to include two production lines at start-up and expects to create 70 jobs.
“Derieth Sutton with Niagara Bottling announced on May 23 that the company will open with two production lines instead of one. That means more jobs and more investment. They project 70 jobs with the two lines and a capital investment of $79 million,” said Coweta County Development Authority President Greg Wright.
Announced March 19, the new Niagara facility represented a $52 million investment located in the Shenandoah Industrial Park in Newnan. Expected to be completed later this year, the Niagara facility will package and distribute private label bottled water for its customers as well as the Niagara label, Wright said.
Prior to the May 23 announcement, the facility was initially slated to include one production line with the potential of running up to four production lines in the future. But the announcement by Sutton changed those plans to include an initial start-up with two production lines.
“We are thrilled to expand in Coweta County,” said Sutton, economic development and government relations manager for Niagara. “This location not only offers the ideal logistics infrastructure that helps us better serve our customers, but we have also experienced a huge welcome from the community. We look forward to bringing new jobs and opportunities to this region.”
Development authority Chairman Terry Davidson in March said Niagara is one of a growing list of quality industries locating in Coweta.
“We are very excited to welcome Niagara Bottling to Coweta County,” said Davidson. “During the location process the company was very clear that they wanted to locate their new facility in an innovative and dynamic community. And we are very pleased that they found what they were looking for in Coweta County.”
Coweta Commission Chairman Bob Blackburn also weighed-in on Niagara’s announcement to open a Coweta facility.
“Niagara Bottling will be a great addition to Coweta County. We appreciate Niagara’s investment in Coweta County and we look forward to working with the company as it expands in the years to come,” Blackburn said.
The Niagara project was a collaborative effort between the Coweta County Development Authority, Lee and Associates and the Ga. Dept. of Economic Development.
The Niagara website indicates that reverse osmosis is used to purify its bottled water, that any fluoride is removed during the purification process and that the company does not use BPA (Bisphenol A) in any of its bottles and caps.
Based in Ontario, California, Niagara Bottling has 18 locations around the U.S.