Coca-Cola to close Northampton bottling plant by year-end
The facility announced its closure three years ago but repeatedly delayed the date; the company now plans to permanently shut down operations on Dec. 15.
NORTHAMPTON — The Coca-Cola bottling plant on Industrial Drive will close on Dec. 15, the company announced in a filing with federal labor regulators, with 175 workers expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year. Coca-Cola filed a notice with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act on June 15, stating that layoffs will occur on Aug. 15 and Nov. 30.
The closure caps a process that began in 2021, when Coca-Cola first announced plans to shut the facility, initially targeting summer 2023. The plant has been a major economic fixture for Northampton, employing around 300 people and bottling non-carbonated beverages including Minute Maid and Powerade. It is the largest industrial site in the city and its largest water consumer, once accounting for a quarter of all municipal water and sewer revenue.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson said the company is committed to supporting workers through the transition and working with state officials to identify job opportunities. "While employees have been aware of these plans for some time, the company is issuing formal notices now to provide as much advance notice as possible," the spokesperson wrote.
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra said her primary concern is the workers and their families facing job loss. She noted that a collaborative effort involving MassHire's rapid response team and the Franklin/Hampshire County and Hampden County career centers has been activated to coordinate career support and job-search events. "People are coming together to try and support the workers as much as possible," Sciarra said.
The city's financial position has already adjusted to the anticipated closure. In 2023, Northampton raised water and sewer rates by more than 200% in anticipation of losing the bottling plant's revenue. Sciarra said that rate increase has allowed the city to stabilize its water enterprise funds and that no further rate adjustments are expected as a result of the plant's departure.
Sciarra has been in contact with Coca-Cola representatives about selling the facility to another company, ideally another large water user or bottler that could help restore the municipal revenue lost by the closure. "My goal since the beginning is to try and market that plant to someone to be able to get back to a place where we are getting that water and sewer revenue from that plant," she said.