Springfield Business Journal_2019-10-14

417-269-5437 coxhealthcmn.com BKD CPAs and Advisors is proud to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals because we know the numbers add up. CoxHealth underwrites administrative costs of our local CMNH office, so 100 percent of our gifts help kids like Izzy, pictured here with Managing Partner Gary Schafer, Partner David Taylor, Accounting Outsourcing Services-and former Miracle-Child Missy Bunch and Partner Brian Todd. WE CHOOSE TO SUPPORT CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS. IZZY UCCELLO Spinabifida OFFICE/WAREHOUSE • 12,150 sq ft 1350 E. Chestnut Expressway Retail Area, 2 Docks, 1 Drive In Door • 2,500 sq ft 2821-B W. Chestnut Expressway 2 Offices, 1 RR Drive In Door Available October 2019 • 1250 sq ft 2755-C W. Chestnut Expressway 1 Office, 1 RR Drive In Door Available October 2019 RETAIL • 3,200 sq ft 2821 W. Chestnut Expressway • 8,750 sq ft 2745 S Kansas Expressway Open Floor Plan 1630-H E. Bradford Parkway Springfield, MO 65804 831.3885 • teri@wehrjohnson.com www.wehrjohnson.com OWNER/DEVELOPER 22 · SBJ.NET OCT 14-20, 2019 Coke: Union members get pay hike Continued from page 1 officials haven’t yet determin ed the number of new hires planned. “Ozarks Coca-Cola and our family have always been committed to the Springfield community, Missouri and the communities in which we operate,” Hargis said, adding the company plans to mark its 100-year an- niversary of family ownership next year. The company also operates distribution fa- cilities in Joplin, West Plains, Bolivar and Rol- la. In Springfield, Ozarks Coca-Cola also is in the midst of installing an $18 million new manufac- turing line at the exist- ing plant, scheduled to be online before year’s end, she said. The com- pany reported 2018 sales of 16 million cases, she added. The Springfield-based company, led by CEO Edwin C. “Cookie” Rice, employs 560 in Missouri and 140 in northwest Arkansas, Hargis said. Of that total, 267 employees work in Springfield. Contract negotiations Roughly 150 of the Springfield workers are Teamster members, she said, adding the company has operated with union mem- bership since 1955. Jim Kabell, secretary-treasurer of Team- sters Local 245, said the approved three-year labor contract with Ozarks Coca-Cola went into effect Sept. 30. It’s set to expire in April 2022. The contract had expired in April, he said, with the company and union represen- tatives negotiating the past five months. The union represents plant employees, with the exception of clerical staff and man- agement, Kabell said. Hargis added there are around 20 union job classifications, such as service technicians, plant production opera- tors and delivery drivers, that work for the company. Kabell said union officials negotiated a pay raise beginning in 2020, ranging from 49 cents to nearly $3 per hour, depending on the job classification. “Economically, this is one of the better con- tracts we’ve had in the past few contracts,” he said, noting the previous contract length also was three years. The agreement spells out hourly rais- es in each subsequent year but for lesser amounts. On the higher end of the raises are employees in vending repair and facil- ity maintenance, Kabell said, with stockers among those on the lower end. Contract approval was a close call by the membership, he said, declining to disclose the vote tally. He noted a tight vote was ex- pected, as some employees had issues with not getting a retroactive pay increase from the months during negotiations. The raises go into effect Jan. 1 for each of the next three years. Hargis said the company’s union work- force received a raise Jan. 1 of this year, and a retroactive increase would have given them two pay bumps in 2019. She de- clined to disclose additional de- tails of the latest contract. Health care was another point of contention during ne- gotiations, Kabell said. Many members favored a Taft-Hartley medical plan that the union pro- vides to membership on behalf of the employer through collec- tive bargaining. He said Ozarks Coca-Cola has long offered a self-funded health plan with Springfield-based Med-Pay Inc. as the third-party administrator. “It was a decent contract, but it wasn’t a great contract,” Kabell said, noting the con- tract approval makes the health care issue a moot point until the next negotiation pe- riod. “I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, and I’ve never seen a perfect contract yet.” Teamsters Local 245 represents union workers at 40-50 companies. Over a dozen of those contracts came up for negotiations this year, he said, pointing to current discussions with Dairy Farmers of America and Missouri State University, on behalf of the school’s public safety officers and dispatch staff. New territory Ozarks Coca-Cola’s investments have extended beyond the Springfield area in re- cent years. In 2015, the independent bottling compa- ny purchased new territories and distribu- tion centers in Joplin and West Plains from Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO). It also expanded to territories in northern Arkansas and south- east Kansas that same year. Those acquisitions more than doubled Ozarks Coca- Cola’s distribution footprint, as well as its employee count, Hargis said. The company em- ployed around 225 prior to the 2015 territory expansion. “Acquiring more space in our distribution centers and adding in all our new brands being developed, we have a larger number of products in our warehouse to distribute,” she said, noting the company’s product line has expanded in the past few years to include energy drinks, sports drinks and milk-based products. It’s also partnered on coffee drinks with Dunkin’ Donuts and Mc- Donald’s. Hargis declined to disclose company sales or its annual growth rates. She said the Packer Road warehouse expansion project – designed by Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective – is a direct result of the new territories and bolstered product line with brands including BodyArmor sports drinks and Core Power protein shakes. “We’re distributing more brands than ever before with Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper,” she said. “We’re trying to offer the consum- er more choices.” 700 Employee count at Ozarks Coca- Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling FROM THE COVER Sally Hargis: Territory expansion in 2015 is fueling investment projects.