Today Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC celebrated 100 years of beverage manufacturing in Salisbury, Maryland with an employee and family picnic at Winterplace Park Pavilion. Nearly 200 employees, family members, company officials, local, state, and county dignitaries were in attendance to commemorate the occasion.
It all began over 100 years ago when Lewis Morgan, a recent immigrant from Wales, came to America in pursuit of the American dream. He intended to start a business and set out for Salisbury, North Carolina and in an interesting twist of fate, purchased a train ticket for Salisbury, Maryland by accident. After first establishing a plumbing business, he later added The Whistle Beverage Company his portfolio. After several years he passed the beverage business to his son, William, who had some success with brands such as Whistle, Whiz, and Wang. After 20 years in the business, he reached a deal to distribute Pepsi-Cola products and the company was soon re-named The Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Salisbury, MD. Over the years, William Morgan, and then later his son-in-law, Dick Hazel and children, Colleen and Morgan, continued to invest and grow the business. In 2004, the Hazels decided to sell the business to Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC (PBV) of Raleigh, NC.
“Over the last decade we have been delighted to be part of the community here in Salisbury to continue the legacy begun by the Morgan and Hazel families,” stated Paul Finney, President and CEO of Pepsi Bottling Ventures. “We thank the City, County, and State for your commitment to our business and we are grateful for the foresight of Mr. Lewis Hazel so many years ago,” he said.
Jim Ireton, Mayor of Salisbury, also stated, “We appreciate the commitment shown by Pepsi to be in this community and their choice to stay in our city as a provider of good, stable jobs for the citizens of Salisbury.” Mayor Ireton later declared May 30th as “Pepsi Day” in the City of Salisbury.
Proclamations were given to PBV on behalf of the City, County and the State by officials representing each of those entities.
North Carolina–based Pepsi Bottling Ventures is the largest privately held bottler of Pepsi–Cola products in North America, operating 21 bottling and distribution facilities that serve consumers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. PBV is a joint venture between Suntory International and PepsiCo. For more information about PBV, visit www.pepsibottlingventures.com.
