Alabama Public Radio continues its collaboration on the television business show called “Alabama, Inc.” A lot of college students work as interns for local businesses. But, how many interns do you know who go back to that very same business, and become the president and C-O-O? That’s the story I have for you today...
Class is in session at the Culverhouse School of Commerce at the University of Alabama. Along with hitting the books, the budding entrepreneurs listening to today’s lecture perform internships to learn the ropes. For Matthew Dent, that’s a case of “been there done that”
“Luckily, Buffalo Rock had an office in Tuscaloosa and they were willing to take me. I worked for free, got my three hours of class credit,” he says. “And, this January will be twenty years since I took that internship.” Buffalo Rock bottles soft drinks including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Canada Dry ginger ale. And what was that like for young Matthew Dent?
“Eye opening," he says.
At the Buffalo Rock bottling plant in Birmingham, 12 ounce cans of soda pop hustle by at a thousand per minute. The bigger 20 ounce bottles poke along at a somewhat slower nine hundred per minute. The gadgets and gizmos are one thing. Dent says something else first impressed him. “This business is steeped in tradition and culture. The company has been around for one hundred and thirteen years. And, we are lucky to have tenure that’s two and half better than the national average. We have employees who have been here for thirty, forty years.”
Buffalo Rock has been run by four generations of the Lee family, which started the business in 1901. Matthew Dent and I sat down to talk in his office, which is a bit more opulent than what you’d expect for a college intern. There are photos of his family on the bookshelves and a conspicuous picture on his desk. He’s in it, along with Pepsi corporate spokeswoman actress Sofia Vergara. Dent was an intern twenty years ago. Now, he’s the President and Chief Operating Officer.
“Again, I feel like I’m a steward in time of this company. It’s been around for one hundred and thirteen years. There was somebody who comes after me, who I hope will continue to put on great impact on this business.” And you’re as likely to see him in a white hair net out on the factory floor as behind his desk. During a tour of the plant, I had to wear one too…
“So Matthew, before we get flooded with emails from people,” I asked. “Why the hair nets?”
“Well, it’s part of our manufacturing practices,” he responded. “We operate in a very clean, very sanitary and safe environment and hair nets are a part of that.”
“So, we’re seeing all these cans going behind us like soldiers,” I continued. “From this process to when somebody picks up the product at the store can take how long?”
“We have about seven to eight days of inventory in our system,” he responded.
That’s a lot of pop. And before you ask, Dent drinks what he preaches… “I grew a Mountain Dew fan,” he says. “I love Mountain Dew, and today I drink diet Dew in the morning. That’s my morning coffee, it’s green coffee.”
The process starts with drink concentrate, which arrives from Pepsi or Canada Dry. Buffalo Rock mixes the product together, bottles it, and ships it out. The only random element is what kind of drink people buy. Dent says that depends a lot on where people live. “Consumers are different, and they’re almost different by zip code, which is really interesting,” he says. “Because, we come with a portfolio of products. But, some are more popular in certain areas than others. So, we always trying to sell our portfolio and a drink for everybody.”
And that changing landscape includes more health conscious consumers who tend to lean away from sugary drinks. Buffalo Rock sponsors fun walks and parks and outdoor activities that help push an active lifestyle. And then, come the drinks… “If somebody wants a low calorie or mid calorie, of full calorie product, we have all of that,” says Dent. “And, we have waters and juices…we think we have something for everybody.”
And, he sees his share of college interns, who are cutting their teeth in the world of business like he did two decades ago. Dent says he knows what it’s like to be the rookie. His advice? “I think when you stop learning or you allow yourself to stop learning, you allow things to pass you by,” he says “And so, we have people coming into our business today with ideas that I do not know today, and I need to learn new ways of doing things, and to embrace those.”
And, if those interns stick with it, and if Sofia Vergara is still pitching Pepsi in a few years, then they may get to be the one with the photo op on their desk. Matthew Dent and I will talk about how he got from here to there, on “Alabama, Inc.,” this Wednesday night at 10 pm on your local Alabama Public Television station.
