Columbus-based Quality Beverage Packing is investing $10.25 million to relocate its beverage concentrate and packaging business to 25 acres on Charleigh D. Ford Jr. Drive.
The company, which has been operating at its current location on Yorkville Park Square since 1996, announced Wednesday that it plans to build a 50,000-square-foot plant to relocate its beverage manufacturing and distribution operation.
The project will create 31 new jobs with average annual salaries higher than $47,800.
“Columbus and Lowndes County have always been home, and with the Golden Triangle Development LINK’s assistance, we were able to identify a site where our new operations will deliver significant additional manufacturing capacity for our customer partners and, most importantly, a best-in-class facility for our dedicated, hard-working employees,” Quality Beverage President Brad Earwood wrote in the release.
GTR LINK Chief Operating Officer Meryl Fisackerly said the company intends to begin construction in 2024 and will open in January 2025. Once complete, the new location will house its beverage syrup manufacturing, which include juice concentrates, pre drink mixes and soda syrup. It will also house a research and development lab and distribution facilities, as well as office space.
“They reached out to us about six months ago and just said, ‘We are thinking about expanding and continuing our operations,’” Fisackerly said. “… They knew that they’d outgrown their facility currently in the city. So they knew they needed something different, a new location.”
Fisackerly said to assist the project, the Mississippi Development Authority agreed to give Quality Beverage a 10-year incentive to offset its tax liabilities while building and operating the new site. Lowndes County Development Authority also gave a portion of the 25 acres for the project.
LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins wrote in the release that he was glad the LINK played a role in assisting Quality Beverage to find a new location.
“The Golden Triangle Development LINK is always excited to land a company that will bring jobs and investment to our area,” Higgins wrote. “However, when a homegrown company chooses to expand and create new jobs and investment, it is both thrilling and rewarding. We are so pleased that Quality Beverage has done just that.”
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