Family gives 573 years of service to Knoxville Pepsi franchise

It was a decision that would launch the careers of more than 30 members of the Bivens family, including 10 of Aaron Bivens' brothers, who have accumulated more than 573 years of service at Pepsi Bottling Group of Knoxville.

"All my brothers worked there. I just wanted to follow in their footsteps," Charles Bivens, 64, the youngest of the brothers, said at a special luncheon honoring the family Tuesday at the Pepsi production facility in Forks of the River Industrial Park.

As aluminum cans and plastic bottles zoomed by on production lines, the remaining Bivens brothers gathered with their children and grandchildren at the plant to take in the technology that has automated many of the jobs they once held.

"That's when you really worked, not just pushed buttons," Charles Bivens said.

"If he wanted to get a hold of you, it was like a vise grip. There was no getting away," Wayne Bivens said of his father, who is credited with mixing the first batch of Mountain Dew, a lemon-lime drink used at the time as a mixer with whiskey or moonshine.

Pepsi Bottling provided good-paying jobs that were hard to come by, said Roger Bivens, 53, who started working for the company when he was 17.

"I had just gotten out of school and was working at a nursery. I thought I might do better," he said.

To help accommodate the growing number of Pepsi employees, Aaron Bivens bought a 15-passenger van to transport family members to work from their homes in Monroe County. When he died, the entire plant had to be shut down because so many employees had to attend the funeral, Production Manager Rachel Still said.

Seven extended family members, including those who are Bivens by marriage, currently work at Pepsi Bottling Group of Knoxville.

"It's definitely different than what it used to be," Jarvis Bivens, 71, said chuckling. "A lot different. They run a lot more drinks than they used to."

Pepsi Bottling Group of Knoxville produces more than 400 different flavors and packaging combinations at its 100,000-square-foot production facility off National Drive, which has 104 employees. A sales facility with 194 employees is located off Middlebrook Pike.

A new limited time offer product, Diet Mountain Dew Ultra Violet, will hit shelves next week, plant manager Ali Itani said.

"The beverage industry has definitely evolved," Itani said. "The consumer has gotten picky. If you don't flex and change you won't survive."

When he was growing up, Wayne Bivens said it was rare occasion that one would get a soft drink.

"It was a big treat even though dad worked for Pepsi," Wayne Bivens said. "Nowadays, people just pick up a soda whenever they feel like it.

Business writer Carly Harrington may be reached at 865-342-6317.

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