‘This is huge for us’: Coca-Cola distribution facility expansion in Spokane Valley complete

Spokane Valley’s Coca-Cola distribution facility expansion is officially complete after 16 months of construction at a final cost of $22.4 million.

Swire Coca-Cola produces and bottles Coke products across a large swath of the Western United States, including nearly all of Washington and Idaho. The company gets soda syrup shipped in to Bellevue to mix and package the drinks on site before sending the product out to other Washington locations. Then, it ships the prepared pallets of drinks to their customers, the largest in the area being Walmart and Safeway.

“Our team members couldn’t function in the space they had, and first and foremost, they couldn’t do it in a safe way every day,” Swire CEO Andrea Kendell said to a group of around 50 people who showed for a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning. Coke cans sat on tables in front of many guests, along with other Coca-Cola products such as Smart Water, Topo Chico and Powerade.

The 146 employees made for a crowd in the previous, 38,615 square foot area, and crews had to take turns charging their electric forklifts on the single powerbank, Swire communications director Erica Hansen said. Upgraded to a total of 138,860 square feet, 54,800 of which belong to the warehouse, the workspace has been made more comfortable for employees. Swire expects to turn 4.3 million cases of product from the location annually.

Local sales manager for Swire, Kyle Schreibeis, said that the “expansion mirrors what Spokane is doing right now.” He began working at the Spokane plant 20 years ago as a truck loader and has watched the company grow.

“We have about three times the amount of space that we’ve had previously,” Schreibeis said. “And also from back then, we had probably about a third the amount of products that we carry today, so it’s a good difference.”

Outside of the warehouse, employees are also looking forward to having meeting spaces that aren’t rented hotel rooms. DJ Hieronymus, another sales manager for Swire, is getting his own office after 14 years with the company – something that seems “surreal” to him. Having access to a new conference room will transform the work environment for his team, he said.

“And, just the aspect of my team being able to come in and sit down and know that they’re not going to be inundated with noise and stuff and they can actually get work done,” he said. “I’ve never worked with a company that takes care of their employees like Swire does.”

State Rep. Suzanne Schmidt was one of the ribbon-bearers during the cutting ceremony. She said she was “happy to be here and celebrate with Swire and Coca-Cola.”

“I, as a state representative, that’s something that I’m looking at,” she said. “The cities within my district – how easy they are to work with and to be business friendly, that’s a main effort. We really need to bring new businesses in or expand the businesses that we have.”

Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley was another holding the ribbon. She said she was grateful for the community work Swire does in the city – they have worked with Second Harvest and the Spokane Riverkeeper – and that business expansions keep the community growing.

“We encourage businesses in the valley,” she said. “This is huge for us.”

This article has been updated to reflect that drinks are mixed and bottled at the Bellevue Swire location before being shipped to the Spokane Valley warehouse for further distribution