Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED Hosts HBCU Students for ‘Pay It Forward’ Internship Week
09/04/2018
Atlanta – Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Company recently hosted seven students representing four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for a week-long internship program at four major facilities in the Atlanta Metro area; East Region Headquarters, Atlanta South Metro, Atlanta North Metro, and College Park locations. All are locations of Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, based in Birmingham, Ala.
The program offered the students firsthand experience in a range of roles available at Coca-Cola, including sales, operations, production, dispatch, marketing and community relations.
“Coca-Cola UNITED is delighted to host these exceptional HBCU students for the week as they represent the future,” said Mike Suco, Vice President, East Region, Coca-Cola UNITED. “We hope the experience the interns had with us this week enables them to further develop their professional goals and provides them with valuable insight as they look to their next phase in life.”
The internship experience is a part of the company-wide “Pay it Forward” program, which aims to provide young adults from HBCUs opportunities to further their success.
In February, Coca-Cola UNITED reviewed applications received for the program through participating HBCUs, selecting seven students based on their standout applications. The following HBCU students were chosen to participate in the “Pay it Forward” internship program:
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Nailah Heard
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Clark Atlanta University
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Gabrielle Holland
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Clark Atlanta University
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Kamal Medlock
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Morehouse College
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Tyler Houston
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Morehouse College
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Marcus Harper
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Savannah State University
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Lydia Laramore
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Spelman College
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Brijae Harper
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Spelman College
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For the past two years, 10 students representing five local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in Alabama, where the company’s headquarters is located, were chosen to participate. The company expanded the program for 2018 to include schools throughout the six-state footprint where Coca-Cola UNITED operates.
For more information on the annual “Pay It Forward” student opportunity, visit www.cocacolaunited.com in January 2019.
About Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc., founded in 1902 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is the second largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in North America and the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States. Coca-Cola UNITED has approximately 10,000 associates located in more than 60 facilities across six southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee). Among the franchises operated by Coca-Cola UNITED is Tuscaloosa Coca-Cola, which serves the greater Tuscaloosa community, including The University of Alabama. Other noteworthy franchises within Coca-Cola UNITED include Chattanooga, the world’s first Coca-Cola bottler, and Atlanta, headquarters of the worldwide Coca-Cola System.
The Company is engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of a diverse portfolio of leading sparkling (Coca-Cola®, Diet Coke®, Coke Zero Sugar®, Dr Pepper®, Sprite® and Fanta®) and still (smartwater®, Dasani®, POWERADE®, Gold Peak®, Monster® and Minute Maid®) non-alcoholic brands under exclusive franchise agreements principally with The Coca-Cola Company® and Dr Pepper Snapple Group®.
For more than 116 years, local relationships, personalized customer service, and strong community engagement have been the foundation of its business. Since inception, Coca-Cola UNITED has remained true to its foundational core values of: Quality, Excellence, Integrity and Respect. www.cocacolaunited.com.