Michelle Obama to tout water in soda town

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON – Wash this political trip down with a little irony.

When First Lady Michelle Obama pays a call on Watertown Thursday afternoon to urge Americans to choose water over soda, she’ll be making her latest health pitch in a southern Wisconsin community that earns its living, at least in part, by the sweat of soda bottlers.

The corporate office of Wis-Pak, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of Pepsi-Cola and other leading soft drinks is located in Watertown. Wis-Pak, with production facilities and warehouses throughout the central U.S.,  is the community’s tenth largest employer, according to the Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce.

Watertown also is home to the 7-Up Bottling Co., a family-owned business that for 75 years has provided full-service beverage distribution and supplied equipment to businesses in Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha and Rock counties.

Susan Dascenzo, executive director of the Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce, could not provide employment figures of the two soda distributors.

Officials from the companies did not return phone calls from Wisconsin Reporter Monday afternoon. But a local Republican brought up the interesting political/business juxtaposition not long after the First Lady’s office announced plans to unveil her new health effort at the Watertown High School.

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