Anheuser Busch announced Tuesday it will invest $3.2 million into its James City County brewery to outfit it for production of a new Bud Light Lime bottle and to brew Oculto, one of the company’s newest drinks.
Oculto is a tequila-flavored beer that came out this year, while the new Bud Light Lime bottle eschews the classic beer bottle for one with a rounded grip.
“We want to make sure jobs stay in Williamsburg, and the recent investment underscores Anheuser-Busch’s commitment to the local community and support of its employees,” Rick Shippey, the brewery’s general manager, said in a news release. “We intend to continue building upon our legacy of brewing and packaging innovative, quality beers in the state of Virginia.”
The local investment is part of a broader spending plan by the company to invest $1.5 billion through 2018 in its operations across the U.S. Of that, $850 million will go toward brewery and packaging expansion projects, $220 million toward product innovation and $720 million toward increasing efficiency, according to the release.
“We have demonstrated commercial success from recent investments which increases opportunity for future projects,” Joao Castro Neves, the president of Anheuser-Busch InBev North America, said in the release. “When we make investments in our local communities it is good for all stakeholders, including employees, local legislators and community leaders – they are critical to our success.”
Anheuser Busch supports 580 jobs in Virginia and pays more than $8 million in state and local taxes.
