BATON ROUGE - The Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED may decide to expand its bottling facility in the capital area, which would create 15 direct new jobs at an average salary of $43,000 with benefits, and 27 indirect jobs.

Should the company move forward with the expansion, it would be a $42 million investment.

According to a Friday morning news release from the Governor's Office, the proposed expansion of the bottling facility would include constructing 120,000 square-feet of additional warehouse space, allowing for upgrades and new machinery.

The expansion would also include the installation of a new Vertique warehouse case picking system.

Additionally, new machinery and equipment would be added to support the increased capacity and productivity, including a new generator, recycling equipment, storage racks, forklifts, conveyors, power switches, gears, lighting, and fire suppression systems.