Pepsi MidAmerica to bring more than 70 jobs to local area

Pepsi MidAmerica will be the first tenant at Greater Cape Girardeau Business Park, a move that's expected to bring about 74 jobs to the region.

A $3.1 million customer service center will be built on 18 acres within the park at Interstate 55 and

LaSalle Avenue, with construction beginning in the next six months. The center is planned to be open by mid-summer 2015 at the park bought by the city from Southeast Missouri State University in late 2012.

"Pepsi MidAmerica was considering multiple communities to expand their distribution network, and through an extensive analysis, the company determined Cape Girardeau was best suited to meet their needs," said a news release from the city.

The facility will consist of three structures and will distribute a variety of items from the company's snack division, including Pepsi beverages, Starbuck's coffee, Gatorade and Frito Lay products.

"Now that we have a tenant in [the business park], it's going to build a lot of momentum for attracting more employment," said Molly Hood, assistant city manager and director of Development Services. "Once you get the first person in there, the project becomes real."

The strategic location of the new business park, a good potential workforce and collaborative community leaders are what led Pepsi MidAmerica's ownership group, the Crisp family, to choose the site, said Larry Chambers, director of facilities for Pepsi MidAmerica, in the release.

Pepsi MidAmerica is headquartered in Marion, Ill., and was founded in 1935 by Harry Crisp Sr. The company has been led by three generations of the Crisp family and is the largest privately held Pepsi franchise in the nation. The company's franchise includes Southeast and south-central Missouri, Southern and central Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northeast Arkansas.

Pepsi MidAmerica operates 12 customer service center facilities, including four in Missouri in West Plains, Kennett, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston. The new facility in Cape Girardeau will improve the company's market share and brand presence, according to a news release from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

"We applaud the Crisp family for investing and bringing new jobs to the Cape Girardeau area," said Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger in the city's release. "Their new customer service center is exactly what was envisioned for the new business park."

Pepsi MidAmerica was offered an economic incentive package if it meets job creation and investment

criteria.

The package comprises of three parts. The first is the development will be within the Cape Girardeau County Enhanced Enterprise Zone, meaning Pepsi MidAmerica will receive a 50 percent tax abatement on real property for the next 10 years, Hood said.

Second, the city obtained a Community Development Block Grant for economic development and job creation, "to the tune of about $700,000" to be put toward infrastructure development and street, sewer and water projects -- "all the things that we needed to get Pepsi to their property, so that was huge," Hood said.

Pepsi MidAmerica also qualifies for the Missouri Works Program, which is a performance-based program that facilitates job creation, she said.

Economic development entities that collaborated on the company's expansion project include city officials, Cape Girardeau County officials, the Cape Girardeau Area Magnet and the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

ashedd@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Interstate 55 and LaSalle Avenue, Cape Girardeau, MO