1st RISE Celebration!

On June 11^th employees gathered at Sheridan Park to celebrate the innovative ideas and successful RISE submissions of their peers. Employee’s had a chance to win some great prizes at a Chinese auction and sample food from two of our customers; Lloyd’s Taco Truck and Pizza Amore.

Mid-managers did a great job putting the event together. Coca-Cola Buffalo truly values and encourages employee’s feedback. We hope the RISE program will continue to engage and motivate employees. 

Coca-Cola and Social Media

What is social media? Social media is an umbrella term for various online platforms that people use to communicate with one another. These platforms are sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others that people use to share photos, comments, videos, and the like. Social media has arguably become the BEST marketing tool in the world today, as so many people use it. By getting involved with social media, a business can effectively reach out to consumers and interact with them in real time.

How is Coca-Cola Buffalo utilizing social media? Coca-Cola Buffalo is actively engaging with consumers of our products and our various partners through the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. By doing so, we have demonstrated our connection to the Buffalo community and collaborated with partners to increase awareness their business. By continuing to build our social media, we have the potential to greatly enhance our marketing capabilities and drive more Coca-Cola sales in Buffalo.

Examples of what Coca-Cola has been doing.

·         Advertising our Cold Drink partners through lunch Tweets

·         Promoting partners' events

·         Implementing a grocery "Deal of the Week"

·         Sharing Coke-related information

·         Answering inquiries from consumers

·         Starting Coca-Cola related conversations

·         Showcasing the Buffalo area and our pride as a local bottler 

·         Run contests to engage consumers

    

Focus on Rainwater as Resource Brightens Rain Barrel Competition

Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz was joined by Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environment & Planning (“DEP”) Thomas Hersey, Director of Operations of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo Pasquale “Pat” Greco, members of the Western New York Stormwater Coalition and the Erie County Water Quality Committee, concerned citizens, and the winning entrants in a rain barrel painting contest to highlight the importance of conserving rainwater that would otherwise run off a property. The contest, now in its second year, serves as an observation of Earth Day and as a demonstration of a practical way that individuals can make a positive environmental difference in their own lives.

Twenty-five rain barrels were submitted for the 2014 Rain Barrel painting contest, representing entries from schools, clubs, and libraries throughout Erie and Niagara counties. The contest theme, “Rainwater is a Resource, Not Just Runoff”, challenged entrants to learn more about storm water pollution prevention and how it keeps pollutants out of our local waterways. Their colorful interpretations of that theme were painted on retrofitted syrup concentrate barrels provided by Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo. 

Entries were scored by DEP staff along with guest judges Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls, Tod Kniazuk of the Arts Services Initiative of WNY, and Brittany DiLeo of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Barrels were judged on creativity, neatness and execution of the idea, and how well they fit into the contest theme.

“Rain barrels are an excellent way to prevent storm water runoff and preserve a precious natural resource for better use, they are easy to put in place, and as we see they can be colorful and creative additions to anyone’s backyard,” said Poloncarz. “As I said in my Initiatives for a Smart Economy address, green infrastructure is critical in preventing pollution and protecting our environment.  I want to thank the Department of Environment & Planning, Coca-Cola Bottling, and their partners for their work in raising awareness on this issue, especially with the younger generation.”

DEP Deputy Commissioner Hersey added, “This contest provides a great opportunity for younger people to learn about the importance of conserving resources and preventing pollution, and lets them channel their creativity into the beautiful expressions you see on these rain barrels. The educational component of this contest is of the utmost importance, and we always welcome the opportunity to work with educators on environmental issues.”

Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo focuses on water stewardship through their “Live Positively” campaign, with investments in projects involving watershed protection and conservation taking precedence. By 2020, Coca-Cola intends to attain their goal of replenishing to nature and communities an amount of water equivalent to that used in their finished beverages.

“We congratulate the students for their fine winning artwork, and for lending their talents to this Live Positively Rain Barrel Art Contest,” said Pat Greco, Director of Operations for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo. “These rain barrels represent Coca-Cola’s commitment to water stewardship and, when all 25 rain barrels are placed, they will be capable of saving over 25,000 gallons of water annually. At Coca-Cola we are dedicated to making a positive difference around the world and especially here in Erie County, the community that we are privileged to share with you and call home.”

Prizes were awarded to the top barrels from Coca-Cola Bottling. The top finishers in the 2014 Rain Barrel contest are:

§  1^st prize ($750) Springville High School

§  2^nd prize ($500) Cleveland Hill High School

§  3^rd prize ($250) Wilson High School

§  4^th prize ($250) Lewiston-Porter High School

Schools and groups participating in the 2014 Rain Barrel contest included Amherst H.S.; Bennett H.S.; City Honors (Art Club, Creative Crafts Club); Clarence H.S.; Cleveland Hill H.S.; Danielle’s Dance Studio (after-school program); Depew middle school; Dudley Branch library (B & ECPL); Lewiston-Porter H.S.; Mary Queen of Angels middle school; North Collins Jr./Sr. H.S.; South Park H.S.; Springville H.S.; City of Tonawanda H.S.; West Seneca West middle school;  and Wilson H.S. Four other groups received donated barrels but did not submit entries.

Storm water is rain and snow melt that flows over hard, impervious surfaces like roof tops, driveways, streets, and parking lots.  Along the way, contaminants such as lawn chemicals, automotive fluids, pet waste, and litter are collected. These pollutants end up in our waterways each time it rains.

A key to preventing storm water pollution is to utilize green infrastructure solutions. Green infrastructure is a collection of practices that capture runoff and allow it to infiltrate the soil as nature intended.  One easy and important green infrastructure practice is storing rainwater for re-use by using a rain barrel. Other methods include planting rain gardens to naturally soak up and filter the runoff, or simply disconnecting gutter downspouts from your home.  Using these practices, thousands of gallons of storm runoff can be reduced, keeping pollutants out of our rivers, streams and lakes.

To learn more about the rain barrel contest and to view the entries, visit http://www2.erie.gov/environment/index.php?q=rain-barrel-contest

Article originally published on www2.erie.gov. 

First place winner - Springville High School

Second place winner - Cleveland High School

Third place winner - Wilson High School

Fourth place winner - Lewiston-Porter High School

The Salvation Army: Re-Fashionista Challenge!

Members of the Social Media Committee had a great time at The Salvation Army Re-Fashionista Challenge event held at The Lafayette Hotel on March 4^th. Our Coca-Cola sponsored artist, Morgan Walsh created a beautiful dress using Coke labels and pop tabs. Morgan’s creation won the People’s Choice Award. 

Caitlin, Dave, Bethany, Owen, Morgan, Model, Lisa, Amanda

Salvation Army Major, Morgan Walsh - Designer, Model

RISE Suggestion Program Gets Launched at Buffalo Coca-Cola

In 2013, ABARTA’s PIT Crew team was challenged to design a new employee suggestion program. This was a collaborative effort which, after reviewing the successes and failures of past programs, looked to create a fresh, new program with a primary goal of fostering 100% participation in the ABARTA Continuous Improvement process. The result was the creation of the RISE program, an acronym which stands for Reduce, Improve, Simplify and Eliminate.

RISE continues the basic premise of previous programs, specifically, soliciting employee suggestions for improvements in productivity, efficiency, safety and cost reduction.  However, Coca-Cola Buffalo’s Mid-Management team wanted to ensure that employees are fully engaged in the entire process and therefore, a highlight of the program is a team approach whereby the submitting employee is completely involved in all aspects of their idea generation, i.e. research, justification, solution development, etc. Every idea is scored on 4 levels, needs justification, ROI, implementation opportunity, and Company commitment.

In January 2014, at the kick off meetings, each employee was given a unique coin designed by the Mid-Management team.  Coins were manufactured with a value of 1, 5, 25, and 50 points.  Any idea meeting the aforementioned criteria will be given points based on the grading structure developed. 

Twice a year, in June & December, a celebration will take place where employees can redeem their points for prizes. 

We are very enthusiastic that this program will not only engage and motivate our employees to become more involved in making The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo a company that truly values and encourages employee’s feedback but also recognizes their accomplishments as their ideas become reality.