AT SCHUMER'S URGING - PEPSI BEVERAGES CO. AGREES TO KEEP HEADQUARTERS AND JOBS IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Schumer Has Lobbied Pepsi CEO, Other Executives For Years To Ditch Plans To Move Outside of New York And Stay In Westchester
In Major Victory For Westchester County, Pepsi's Decision To Lease Current Facility Means That The 1,200 Hudson Valley Employees At HQ Will Stay On The Job
Schumer: This Is Outstanding News For Pepsi and Westchester, Could Mean That Many More Jobs Are On The Way
Yesterdayy, after repeated pressure from U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Pepsi Beverages Company, the bottling division of PepsiCo, Inc. announced that they will continue to locate their headquarters in Westchester for an additional five years. The decision means that the 1,200 jobs associated with the company's headquarters will remain in the Hudson Valley, with great potential to attract even more jobs and economic opportunity. For years, Schumer has repeatedly pressed Pepsi executives to abandon their plans to move to Danbury, CT and keep their headquarters inside the approximately 540,000 square foot facility in Somers.
"Pepsi's decision to stay in Westchester shows great faith in the Hudson Valley, and could be just the start of new growth and economic opportunity," Schumer said. "This is very important not just for the over one thousand jobs there now, but also for the other jobs this announcement may bring to the region. We worked long and hard to see this result and want to thank Pepsi, a New York and international icon, for choosing to stay in Westchester."
Schumer has continually pressed Pepsi Beverages Co. to stay in Westchester, and has also partnered with numerous state and local organizations to create a favorable business climate in which Pepsi and its Hudson Valley employees can thrive. In 2008, Senator Schumer lobbied Pepsi Beverages Company CEO Eric Foss to work with the state in order to come up with a sufficient incentive package that would allow Pepsi to remain headquartered in Westchester. When Pepsi began exploring alternate facilities in Connecticut during that same year, Schumer personally called Mr. Foss, urging him to remain open to keeping the company's headquarters in the Hudson Valley. Schumer has since worked with PepsiCo, Inc. CEO Indra Nooyi, the State of New York, and the company that leases the headquarters, Murray Hill, to ensure that Pepsi would remain Somers.
Pepsi Beverages Company is the primary vendor for PepsiCo and has a payroll of over $90 million. The company is the largest employer, outside of IBM, in Northern Westchester County, employing over 1,200 people and contractors at its headquarters in Somers.