It’s dawn in West Texas. A kaleidoscope of desert colors cascades across a landscape dotted with creosote and oil fields. As the sun rises over distant mesas in the east, it’s easy to feel inspired. For Christina Griffin, a truck driver for Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, the morning beauty is more than just inspirational; it reminds her of the opportunity and economic mobility she found in her new career.
Each workday, Griffin is up with the sun and traveling the vast network of highways in the American Southwest. Her truck carries Coca-Cola products bottled outside her hometown of Odessa, Texas to be delivered across her route to West Texas. Since she began driving the truck in the summer of 2023, Griffin has found a renewed sense of purpose behind the wheel, especially when visiting the tiny towns where her Coca-Cola delivery is a lifeline to burgeoning economies and fellow road warriors.
This Texas Coca-Cola Bottler Empowers Women in the Workplace and the Community
By StoryStudio on March 28, 2024
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CCSWB strives to be part of the community by hiring workers that reflect those communities it serves. As a result, CCSWB has been able to build meaningful relationships with customers and consumers which continues to strengthen its company culture. Every year the bottler conducts an engagement survey to understand how the company is performing through the eyes of its associates, including what can be done to make improvements. A clear sign of a company ensuring it meets the needs of its employees.
For Christina Griffin, she’s grateful to have found a career she enjoys at a company she can be proud of. She encourages others who may be searching for a new opportunity to consider CCSWB.
“This job was a total blessing; you never want to feel like you’re stuck somewhere. It doesn’t matter your age. If you want something, go after it. That’s how I look at things now.”
Learn more about AC-CSSWB’s commitment to women and all their employees in the workforce at cocacolaswb.com.
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“Being on the road is such an experience,” she says. “It’s something new every day and you get to meet new people to interact with every day, which I really enjoy.”
Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages (CCSWB) is a people driven, digital bottler that delivers refreshing Coca-Cola products to more than 31 million customers in Texas and parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico. They’re dedicated to providing women like Griffin with new opportunities. For Griffin, the timing was right. Her position at CCSWB came at a time in her life when she was open to new possibilities. Still, it took courage to leave her long-term job for something better.
“For a while, I felt like I was stuck,” Griffin recalls. “Changing careers seemed scary; I'm 55, and I was going to give up so many years that I had already invested in a company, but I just felt like I had to step out on faith. Then I got the call that I got the job and knew this was where I was supposed to be.”
Griffin’s job as a truck driver plays a huge role to the local economy in her region. A small example of how CCSWB associates contribute to at least 81,700 jobs in the state of Texas. CCSWB is working to have women more visible than ever before. It is all a part of CCSWB’s unwavering commitment to its culture and values in the workplace. A major focus of the local bottler.
“At CCSWB, the effort to support women in business is not just the priority of one individual or leader, it’s important for everyone,” says Silvia Martins, vice president of human resources. “An environment that embraces everyone’s voice encourages innovation, and a diverse team can offer stronger, more creative ideas that benefit CCSWB and the regions it serves.”
To create a more welcoming working environment for women, in April, CCSWB is launching EMPOWER for its second year in a row. EMPOWER is a networking cohort for women at the company to discuss important topics to their career journey including, mentorship, brainstorming about solutions to professional obstacles, networking, and community involvement. Participants will also have the opportunity to assess and develop their career paths. Interest in the program was so strong this past year the cohort is preparing to have more members this year.
“We are empowering women to flourish at work for who they are,” Martins explains. “There’s power in connecting passion, purpose, and skill sets. It is important to encourage women to have work-life integration, which allows women to pursue their needs and interests.”
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Being on the road is such an experience. It’s something new every day and you get to meet new people to interact with every day, which I really enjoy.”
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Christina Griffin
New opportunities always bring new challenges. But overcoming those challenges is part of what makes Griffin’s job driving trucks so meaningful for her. Whether it's learning how to better maneuver the rig, bracing for a truck rocking in the stiff Texas wind, or dealing with a semi stuck in the gravel, Griffin ends each day with a sense of accomplishment.
We are empowering women to flourish at work for who they are,” Martins explains. “There’s power in connecting passion, purpose, and skill sets. It is important to encourage women to have work-life integration, which allows women to pursue their needs and interests.”
“
Women-focused initiatives like EMPOWER reflect the company’s larger commitment beyond the workplace to positively impact women in the local community through philanthropic efforts and partnerships with community organizations. Many of the initiatives are aimed at promoting education and economic mobility for women across CCSWB’s territory.
We are empowering women to flourish at work for who they are...“There’s power in connecting passion, purpose, and skill sets. It is important to encourage women to have work-life integration, which allows women to pursue their needs and interests.”
“
Silvia Martins
VP of Human Resources