Former Coca-Cola UNITED CEO and Board Chairman Claude B. Nielsen will be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in November.

Nielsen joined UNITED in 1979 and held a variety of operational and managerial positions until 1991, when he was appointed CEO. He assumed the additional role of Board Chairman in 2003. In 2016, Nielsen retired as CEO while continuing to serve as Board Chairman until his Board retirement in 2023.

The Alabama Business Hall of Fame “honors, preserves and perpetuates the names and outstanding accomplishments of business personalities who have brought lasting fame to the state of Alabama.” Nielsen joins another former Coca-Cola UNITED leader in this honor, founder Crawford Johnson Sr., who was inducted in 1977.

Nielsen was at UNITED’s helm when it embarked upon a major territory expansion that more than tripled the size and scope of the company in terms of revenues, geography, number of associates and facilities – an “epic transformation” of the 122-year-old Birmingham, Alabama-based operation.  Today, UNITED has approximately 10,000 associates located in nearly 60 facilities across six southeastern states.

A native of Evergreen, Alabama, Nielsen has been very active in the business community, as well as serving in leadership positions within the Coca‑Cola System and beverage industry. Some of these include serving as Board member and Chairman of the American Beverage Association, The Coca‑Cola Scholars Foundation and The Coca‑Cola Bottlers’ Association. He has also shared his energy, enthusiasm, and passion with numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the United Way of Central Alabama, the Birmingham Airport Authority Board, and the American Cancer Society. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the Birmingham Business Alliance.

Nielsen was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2016 and into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame in 2022. In addition, he and his wife, Kate, were recognized by the Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 2017 with the “Heart of an Eagle” award for their community service, and they were named Outstanding Civic Leaders by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2021.

Click here to read more about Nielsen and this year’s fellow inductees.