Water bottling plant will close March 31

By Carrie A. Mizell

Seventy-one employees of the Coca-Cola water bottling plant will lose their jobs on March 31 when the facility closes.
In late October, the Gilchrist County Journal first reported that the plant, which is located on Country Road 340, was in danger of closing.

According to Charlie Sutlive, spokesman for Coca-Cola Refreshments, the company has been seeking a buyer for the High Springs plant, and had been in discussions with a prospective buyer, but a purchase agreement was not reached.
The prospective buyer that Coca-Cola officials had been in discussions with has since decided not to pursue purchasing the facility.
“As a result, we are following through with what we communicated to our associates last October, and we plan to issue severance packages to all remaining impacted employees at the facility on March 31,” Sutlive said.
At one time, the Coca-Cola water bottling facility was the largest public employer and taxpayer in Gilchrist County. Initially, the plant opened in 1999 under the name Ginnie Springs Water Bottling.
According to Donna Cicolia, government relations director for Coca-Cola, the plant had been losing ground in the retail bottling industry for some time, which led to the company deciding that it must be sold or closed.
When news broke in October, Trina Coggins, plant manager at the High Springs facility, said that the plant was running on one-third the number of employees it once had. At that time, Coggins said that the plant was running only one eight-hour shift and closing nights and weekends.
The plant manager said the facility only uses an estimated 25 percent of its permitted 1.2 million gallons of water daily through its water withdrawal permit issued by the Suwannee River Water Management District.
As a spokesman for Coca-Cola, Sutlive wanted to send a clear message to plant employees in lieu of the closing, “In a time of change, we are committed to treating everyone fairly and with respect. In addition to severance, employees will be eligible for outplacement support. Employees can also apply for positions at other Coca-Cola Refreshment facilities.”
The loss of jobs at the water bottling plant will drastically affect the community, and the loss in tax revenue will also pose a hit to Gilchrist County.
According to records obtained from the Gilchrist County Property Appraiser’s Office, the water bottling plant paid around $700,000 in real and personal property taxes in last year.