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JACKSONVILLE, Fla.– Today, Governor Rick Scott attended the official ribbon cutting for the new aluminum bottle line at Anheuser-Busch’s Metal Container Corporation (MCC) manufacturing facility in Jacksonville. The completed expansion invested $175 million into the local community and created 75 new jobs. 

Governor Scott said, “I was proud to recognize Anheuser-Busch today for the successful creation of 75 new jobs for families in Jacksonville. Anheuser-Busch is a national company that chose to invest $175 million in Northeast Florida because we used our entire toolkit, including incentives, to outcompete every other potential location. This project would not have been possible without the work of Enterprise Florida and it is disappointing that the Florida Legislature chose to put continued economic development at risk by not fully funding EFI. I look forward to seeing Anheuser-Busch’s ongoing success in Florida as we continue to fight to bring more important jobs wins like this to our state.”

Rob Haas, president, MCC, said, “It is with great pride that we are here today to celebrate the grand opening of the new aluminum bottle line in Jacksonville and the creation of 75 new jobs that come along with it. The popular aluminum bottle is a product Floridians and beer-drinkers around the country enjoy, and we are proud to report that sales of the twist-off aluminum bottle have increased 15 percent from 2015 to 2016. With this new line, we look forward to producing this popular package right here in Jacksonville for years to come.”

Richard Pyle, Jacksonville plant manager, said, “Anheuser-Busch and MCC have been proud members of the Jacksonville community for nearly 50 years, and we are pleased to celebrate the grand opening of this new aluminum bottle line, which has not only given us the ability to increase production of the popular aluminum bottle, but has allowed us to employ even more Floridians. It’s important to remember, however, that projects of this size and importance don’t happen without great partners, and we have great partners in Governor Rick Scott, Mayor Lenny Curry and all of our state and local elected officials – without them this project would not have been possible.”

Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “Over the past six years, through the leadership of our great Governor, we’ve made strategic investments to bring new companies to our state and grow existing Florida businesses, just like Anheuser-Busch. We are proud that Anheuser-Busch has been doing business in Florida for almost five decades, and I am excited to see the company’s growth continue.”

Mike Grissom, interim President & CEO, Enterprise Florida, Inc. said, “Florida is a great place for manufacturing businesses, and Governor Scott has continued to fight to make Florida better. Unfortunately, Florida is seeing fewer and fewer projects like this because of the negativity that has been coming from Tallahassee. Enterprise Florida will continue to work with our partners around the state to compete for more projects like Metal Container Corporation.”

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