``The basis of building an organization is the character of the company``
With a strong tradition of naming our buildings after many of our amazing long-term employees Pepsi MidAmerica believes that its success is due to the wonderful men and women who helped create the remarkable history of PMA. Through fires, war, sugar rations, and other existential threats to Pepsi MidAmerica, we have persevered and come out stronger on the other side. Working for PMA is more than just working a job, it’s about being a part of history and belonging to the very large family that is Pepsi MidAmerica.
The company was founded by Harry Crisp, Sr, in 1936, and next year we will be celebrating our 90th Anniversary. He first started in the poultry business, with his trucks carrying out eggs, chicks, and produce, he saw an opportunity to offer his customers more. At the beginning of the 1930’s Harry developed a line of flavored soft drink products including Red Rooster and Crisp Flavors, which were delivered on these poultry trucks. This leap into the soft drink business, which was then unknown to him, ultimately was the cornerstone for his success.
In 1936, Marion Pepsi-Cola, as Pepsi MidAmerica was first known, was finally founded. Before that Pepsi was relatively unknown so Harry would only agree to test it out by splitting an initial unit of concentrate with the St. Louis bottler saying, “I’ll put Pepsi-Cola on the hatchery trucks and if it sells as well as the chicks and eggs, we’ll keep it.” Within a year he acquired the local franchise for Pepsi and started with five employees.
In 1966, the company acquired its first of many Dr Pepper franchises. Between 1981-83 they expanded to Paducah, Kentucky and Malden, Mo. and in 1989, built a new administration building next to the bottling plant in Marion. Then in 1985, Marion Pepsi now had branch distribution centers in 5 states: Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri.
In 1991 a second bottling line was built at their Marion plant, doubling output and in 1995 they added Ocean Spray, Later additions were Lipton Tea, Gatorade and Muscle Milk to the product line. Crisp Container opened in 1997 as a 100,000 square foot plastic bottle manufacturing plant on Skyline Drive in Marion which serves some bottling and freight needs for PMA and others.
The number of jobs has increased by over threefold since 1975. PMA continues to improve as a company, including adding full-line vending throughout most of the region and an in-house Priority Care center for co-workers and their families. We hope that the best of what we do here will continue to pour over into the lives of others in our MidAmerican region for years to come.
Today, Pepsi MidAmerica is one of the top 5 independently owned Pepsi franchises and among the top 10 Canteen U.S. franchises, serving beverages, snacks and food options to many businesses in our 5-state area. Pepsi MidAmerica has been recognized as Business of the Year, and both Harry L Crisp II and Keith Dickens were recognized for Lifetime Achievement by the Marion IL Chamber of Commerce.
Pepsi MidAmerica has 11 physical locations throughout the region staffed with locally based representatives you know personally and who are always ready to provide on-site support.
Pepsi MidAmerica has a long standing tradition of supporting the community, both professionally and philanthropically. PMA sponsors and supports numerous events through each of our locations. We are proud of the communities in which we work and live and we take pride in being a good corporate citizen, giving back to those communities which have stood by us since 1936. Below is a list of some of the community organizations we support throughout our MidAmerican region.
