Feet on the Street

by Teresa Royer
Member Relations Specialist

My travels recently took me to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company warehouse where I met the Sales Center Manager, Aaron Brown. Aaron has been back “home” for about 8 weeks. He has relocated here from Pennsylvania and is originally from Knightstown, Indiana.

Aaron is very personable and knowledgeable about the Company. He’s also very passionate about the initiatives he shared with me that Coca-Cola is involved in and is excited about growing them here in Fort Wayne.

The company is very proactive in their Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability initiative. Coca-Cola’s CRS initiative focuses on the environment, the community, and its employees. Coca-Cola believes strongly in recycling and Aaron shared with me that you can make a t-shirt out of 5-20oz. plastic bottles; which they were happy to give such shirts to their employees.

The Fort Wayne facility is exploring many environmental initiatives at this time, including water stewardship, energy conservation, and recycling. They are exploring ways to collect and recycle rainwater for local landscapers and irrigation companies. This water then can be used to provide their services while saving the use of hundreds possibly thousands gallons of water.

You can check out their website at http://www.cokecce.com/ where you can finds tips and suggestions on how you can incorporate “Green” initiatives in your daily life.

Coca-Cola is also very civic-minded and wants to be part of the community. i.e. giving back and getting involved, their employees are encouraged to volunteer their time as well to non-profit organizations. Aaron is interested in forming partnerships with other like-minded companies regarding this effort in giving back. Interested?