Birmingham-based Coca-Cola UNITED names two executive leadership changes

Birmingham-headquartered Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. (UNITED) on Thursday announced two executive leadership changes, effective immediately. Mike Suco has been named senior vice president and chief commercial officer, while Crawford Jones has been named vice president for the East Region.

Coca-Cola UNITED, founded in 1902 and based in the Magic City, is the second-largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in North America and the third-largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States. Now with its fifth generation of family working in the business, the Yellowhammer State company has approximately 10,000 associates located in more than 60 facilities across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Both Suco and Jones are Alabama natives. Suco, in his new roles, 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.

He 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,” said John Sherman, president and CEO of Coca-Cola UNITED. “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,” Sherman continued. “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. 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 Alabama 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. His new role will see his family return to the Birmingham area.

Jones, himself a native of Birmingham, succeeds Suco as vice president of the company’s East Region, based in Atlanta. Jones is now responsible for sales and distribution of Coca-Cola products within the Peach State. The East Region represents approximately one-third of the revenues for Coca-Cola UNITED.

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. He 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,” stated Sherman. “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 earned his MBA at the University of Alabama. Civically, he has held leadership roles with the United Way of Central Alabama and Camp Smile-A-Mile, both based in Birmingham. He and his family now head to Atlanta.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn