Extraordinary Developer of the Coca-Cola Bottling Business, Built Third Largest Coca-Cola Bottling Organization in the World Starting with 600 Employees

Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica

Providing the Leadership, Drive and Technical Expertise to Transform a Small, Old-Fashioned Coca-Cola Bottling Operation into the World's Third Largest Coca-Cola Group with Ultra Modern Management, Marketing, Production Facilities and Quality Control Plus Happy Motivated Employees, Conceiving and Building the World's Largest Coca-Cola Bottling Plant Capable of Supplying 30 Million Inhabitants Including Sao Paulo, Brazil

All Products of the Coca-Cola Company

Spending Time with Family, Studying the World's Problems, Music, Reading, Playing Golf

Coursework, Institut Dupuich, Brussels, Belgium (1937); Georgia Institute of Technology (1941); Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, Harvard Business School (1965); Advanced Management Program Number 48

World War II, Bronze Star on Okinawa (August 1945); 100 Best Managed Companies in the World (1996-1998); Giant Coca-Cola Plant in Jundiai, Brazil Received the Highest Award for Concept, Performance and Quality Control, Produced the Best Coca-Cola in the World

Beverage Manufacturing

11/9/2007

Chairman of the Board, Panamerican Investment Co., Inc.; Four Years of Service, World War II, Later Promoted to Captain, U.S. Army

Converted a Small, Old-Fashioned Coca-Cola Bottling Business into a Large, Modern Business with Well-Trained Workers, Well-Trained Management and Modern Coca-Cola Bottling Plants; Outsold Competitors, Developed a Master Expansion Plan to Grow the Business; Developed Marketing Programs and Trained the Salesmen; Designed and Built New Bottling Plants, Bought New Bottling Machinery and Trucks, Bought Property and Built New Warehouses; Repeatedly Trained and Improved Management Staff; By 1997, Panamerican Beverages, Inc. had Become the Largest Soft Drink Bottling Company in Latin America, and the Third Largest Coca-Cola Bottled Group in the World

Following four years of service in World War II during which I made significant contributions to the USA's final victories on the islands of Kerama Retto, Ie Shima and Okinawa, I was decorated during the Okinawa battle with the Bronze Star for performance over and above the call of duty and promoted to Captain, US Army. After the war, I devoted my full attention to the Staton family Coca-Cola bottling business Panamerican Investment Co., Inc. with small franchises in the USA, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. My mental efforts to make the small business grow produced a "Utopian" dream of a large multinational international business wherein a constantly upgraded workforce worked in close harmony with a constantly upgraded management team to the benefit of all the stockholders of the company as well as all the inhabitants and all of mother nature within the limits of our franchised territories. Constantly driven by my "Utopian" dream, I set about the enormous task of converting a small, old-fashioned Coca-Cola bottling business into a large, modern business with well-trained workers, well-trained management as well as modern Coca-Cola bottling plants. This meant outselling all of our competitors, who for years had been dominating our soft drink markets, in order to generate the necessary funds to build new plants, new warehouses, buy new trucks, etc. I developed a Master Expansion Plan to grow the business an then turned myself into the Master Teacher as well as the Leonardo Da Vinci of the Coca-Cola bottling business in Latin America. I personally invented the marketing programs and trained the salesmen, designed and built new bottling plants, bought new bottling machinery and trucks, bought property and built new warehouses. Simultaneously, I repeatedly trained and improved our management staff and taught them to work in harmony with our workers. Naturally, I had to develop my personal support staff in order to make fast decisions and keep firm control of the tremendous expansion in every department of business and all the money being spent. I also had to teach the growing organization how to think fast and work fast. Every day for years and years I was improving some part of our fast growing business. I traveled constantly with a clip board in hand to inspect all of our installations, all of our personnel, and all of our operating systems. As I began to see the remarkable improvements in our Staton family Coca-Cola business, I became more ambitious. To my "Utopian" dream, I added the ambitious goal of not only improving all the physical assets of our enterprise but also all of our people. I invented a Universal Coca-Cola Religion and taught everyone the basic concepts of Christianity without giving it the name of Christianity. Again I was extraordinarily successful. When I arrived with my family at Cali, Colombia in August 1951, the small Coca-Cola Bottling business operated by my father was practically unknown in Latin America. Forty-six years later in 1997, Panamerican Beverages, Inc. had become the largest soft drink bottling company in Latin America and the third largest Coca-Cola Bottled Group in the world. The company was listed on Wall Street and operated in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela and had assets of 3.5 billion dollars, sales of 2.5 billion dollars and net profits of 173.8 million dollars. Most importantly, Panamerican Beverages, Inc. had become a shining example of how a large (42,000 employees) multinational international company should perform and behave. Panamerican has a record of the best employee relations with one million dealers, the inhabitants within our franchised territories, government officials as well as with other corporations and goodwill entities. All of its products were bottled with exquisite care and subject to intense quality control. Word had gotten around that Panamerican was one of the best companies to work for so that all bottling plants had lines of hopeful workers seeking employment. Within the company the progress of an individual worker depended solely on his or her performance - not on the color of his skin or the friends that he might have within the organization. The working environment was extremely open and friendly - perhaps unique in all of Latin America. The employees loved their jobs and were proud to be members of our "Coca-Cola Family." As a consequence, they were motivated to improve their performance. They knew that when the company's results improved, so did their salaries. They were members of "The Coca-Cola Team", the "Winning Team." An all-important Wall Street bank had the job of placing a value on the assets and shares of Panamerican Beverages, Inc. before it went public in 1992. Their experts visited many of our installations all over Latin America after which they asked me, "We have noticed, Al, that no matter where we go, be it in a huge city like Sao Paulo or a small warehouse way out in a rural zone, all of your employees are working as fast as they can with a smile on their faces. We have never seen a similar case with any other company. What have you done to achieve this unique result?"