Contact: Cassandra Mickens, Coca-Cola UNITED
cassandramickens@ccbcu.com
205-612-6779
For Immediate Release
Coca-Cola UNITED Names Mike Suco Senior Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer
and Crawford Jones, Vice President, East Region
Birmingham, Alabama – Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. (UNITED) has announced the following executive leadership changes, effective immediately:
- Mike Suco has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
- Crawford Jones has been named Vice President, East Region
As senior vice president and chief commercial officer, Mike Suco is responsible for numerous areas critical to the execution of the company’s commercial plan, including the National Retail Customer Group, Revenue Growth Management, Corporate Marketing and the On Premise organization.
Suco returned to the company’s corporate headquarters in Birmingham following five years in Atlanta, where he was vice president of the company’s East Region and responsible for all sales and distribution activities within Coca-Cola UNITED’s Georgia territory. In 2016, under his leadership, the company acquired 10 new facilities and market territories in Georgia, and transitioned more than 2,000 new employees and approximately 30,000 new customers into the company. The Atlanta Market Unit was the single largest acquisition in Coca-Cola UNITED’s history.
“Mike’s impact on Coke UNITED for the past two decades has been immeasurable. For the past five years, he has done an amazing job leading our integration into the Atlanta market and expansion throughout Georgia. He did so in a manner that stayed true to our purpose: investing in and putting our associates first, while serving our customers and communities at the highest levels. This was no easy task, as most of those associates and customers were new to Coca-Cola UNITED, and ensuring our values and operating principles were maintained was of upmost importance,” said John Sherman, president and CEO of Coca-Cola UNITED. “As chief commercial officer, he will play an instrumental role in preparing our organization for continued growth and success in the future.”
Prior to his role in Atlanta, Suco served as corporate vice president of operational marketing and commercial leadership in the company’s Birmingham headquarters. He began his career in the Coca-Cola System in 1996 as a market development manager for The Coca-Cola Company. He joined Coca-Cola UNITED in 2000 as director of marketing and key accounts.
A native of Jacksonville, Alabama, Suco is a graduate of Jacksonville State University with a B.S. in Business Administration.
His engagement in community and civic organizations spans both Atlanta and Birmingham, including board and leadership roles with Oglethorpe University, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Georgia Beverage Association, Hispanic Business Council, Fiesta-Hispanic Cultural Festival, YMCA of Greater Birmingham, Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama and The Boy Scouts of America.
Suco enjoys competing in marathons, triathlons and playing golf. He and his wife, Shelley, and their two children, Bella and Michael Jr., will reside in the Birmingham area.
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Crawford Jones, a native of Birmingham, succeeds Suco as vice president of the company’s East Region, based in Atlanta. Jones is responsible for sales and distribution of Coca-Cola products within the state of Georgia. The East Region represents approximately one-third of the revenues for Coca-Cola UNITED and includes facilities in the following locations throughout Georgia: Metro Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, Dublin, Gainesville, Lawrenceville, Macon, Milledgeville, McRae, Savannah, Statesboro, Sylvester and Waycross.
For the past decade, Jones has served as senior director of customer management and price revenue growth management, overseeing all national retail customers, pricing and revenue management for Coca‑Cola UNITED. Jones started working in the Coca‑Cola System in 2004 with another independent bottler, Coca‑Cola Consolidated, as a management trainee. He joined Coca-Cola UNITED in 2007 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as a management trainee and later held the roles of key account manager and key account director.
“I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Crawford grow into a strategic and effective leader, building strong relationships with national and local customers throughout Coca-Cola UNITED’s footprint,” said John Sherman, president and CEO of Coca-Cola UNITED. “His knowledge of the Coca-Cola System, his keen interest in community and civic engagement, and his passion for our associates will no doubt help him lead our East Region and presence in Atlanta to continued success.”
Jones is a graduate of both Sewanee: The University of the South with a B.A. in Economics and The University of Alabama, where he earned his M.B.A. Civically, he has held leadership roles with the United Way of Central Alabama and Camp Smile-A-Mile, both based in Birmingham. Jones, his wife, Stewart, and their three children, Heyward, Anne Turner and Julia, will reside in the Atlanta area.
– Stand UNITED –
About Coca-Bottling Company United, Inc.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc., founded in 1902 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is the second largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in North America and the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the U.S. Now with its fifth generation of family working in the business, Coca-Cola UNITED has approximately 10,000 associates located in more than 60 facilities across six southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee). Historically significant franchises within our Coca-Cola UNITED family include Chattanooga, the world’s first Coca-Cola bottler; Atlanta, home of the worldwide Coca-Cola System; and Columbus, Georgia, development site of the original Coca-Cola formula.
Coca-Cola UNITED is engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of a diverse portfolio of leading sparkling (Coca-Cola®, Diet Coke®, Coke Zero Sugar®, Dr Pepper®, Sprite®, AHA® and Fanta®) and still (smartwater®, Dasani®, POWERADE®, BODYARMOR®, Fairlife®, Gold Peak®, Monster® and Minute Maid®) non-alcoholic brands under exclusive franchise agreements principally with The Coca-Cola Company® and Keurig Dr Pepper®.
For 119 years, Coca-Cola UNITED has remained true to its foundational core values of Quality, Excellence, Integrity and Respect. Local relationships, personalized customer service and strong community engagement have been the foundation of our business for more than a century. Each year, millions of dollars are invested in our local communities, supporting education, community development, sustainability and nonprofit organizations that empower and impact those in need.
