Hodges to head local Coke post

photo Darren Hodges

At a glance

Name: Darren Hodges.Hometown: ChattanoogaJob: Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Co. key account executive; shifting to vice president in March 2013Education: Trinity High School, valedictorian; bachelor of science in accounting-University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaService: Past board member of American Cancer Society; assists Chattanooga United Way with annual Frank McDonald Golf ClassicPersonal: Wife, Stephanie, and daughter, Alissa; attends Brainerd Baptist ChurchSource: Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

A Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Co. veteran has been named as the company's new vice president.

Darren Hodges, who began his career with the company in 1986, will take the place of longtime local executive Gary Davis. Davis is retiring next March after 40 years with the business. Hodges, who has most recently served as Chattanooga's key account director, will assume his new job in March.

The Chattanooga company is a division of Birmingham, Ala.-based Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United Inc., and the world's first Coca-Cola bottler, having been founded in 1899.

"It's been an honor to be able to work in my hometown ... with all the legends that float around the city," Davis said earlier this year, citing Chattanooga's concentration of people tied to Coke history.

According to Coca-Cola Bottling United's website, the 110-year-old company employs about 3,000 and is the third-largest bottler of Coke. There are 500 employees in Chattanooga, including the United Packers production group, Davis said.

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