New president/COO brings much experience to job

John Schaefer, 46, the president/chief operating officer of the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company, effective Jan. 1, is no stranger to the industry.

Schaefer's past bottling business responsibilities include creating and executing an annual business plan, sales, distribution, marketing, manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, and customer and consumer relations.

He held a number of jobs with Coca-Cola bottlers in Ohio, Kentucky and California.

He began as a route driver in Cincinnati and worked his way up to vice president/general manager of the Northern California Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Oakland, Calif.

As general manager, Schaefer managed multiple branches, production plants and division offices. A number of managers reported to him, including the marketing and sales vice president, the human resource manager, controller, sales managers and the cold drink manager.

For the last four years, be has owned and operated a home decorating business in Cincinnati with his wife Julie.

"I opened the store because it had always been my dream to own a business," he said. "But I missed the challenge and fun of the very competitive soft drink industry and sold the business to pursue this opportunity as president/chief operating officer."

Schaefer has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Cincinnati.

It was during his college years that he met Julie, and the couple has three children Amanda, 20, a sophomore at the University of Ohio; Tara, 19, a freshman at Ohio University; and Rob, 15, a freshman at Glendale High School.

Schaefer said he has no immediate plans to change the way the operation is running. "Any change will be dictated by what's going on in this business environment and the needs of our customers and consumers."

Schaefer said the Ozarks Coca-Cola Bottling Company is "loaded with good, hard-working people, and it will make my job easy. I've enjoyed every job I've had with Coke and look forward to contributing to the continued success of the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Company."

Hattie Brown, one of the owners of the Springfield bottling company, said the board of directors interviewed extensively for the position over a period of more than 18 months before selecting Schaefer.

"We interviewed many fine candidates," she said. "We feel like John is the best person because he's had experience with Coca-Cola, has been in supervisory positions and is adept at dealing with employees and customers. He will be a very large asset to our company. We look forward to working with him for many years to come."

(Editor's note: Ann Bucy is a longtime free-lance writer for the Business Journal. She is currently employed by Penmac Personnel Services and is working at Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company in a temporary capacity.)