SoCal set to “Be a Pepper” DC location

SoCal set to ôBe a Pepperö DC location    Plano, Texas-based beverage maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. said Wednesday it plans to build a $120 million facility in Southern California to serve as its southwestern U.S. distribution hub.
   The facility, to be located about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, is expected to employ 200 people when fully operational. The 850,000-square-foot building on 57 acres will comprise 550,000 square feet of warehouse space and a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing plant. The plant will feature up to six productions lines annually producing up to 40 million cases of the firm’s soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages.
   Construction is set to begin in October with a planned opening date in early 2010. The facility, designed to serve nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population, will join two-dozen other bottling plants and more than 200 distribution centers owned by DPS.