Niagara Investing $76 Million in Arizona

The nation's largest private-label bottled water company is getting even bigger.

Niagara Bottling LLC plans to spend $76 million on a new manufacturing and bottling plant in Mesa, Ariz., beginning work on the project this month.

The new bottling plant will employ between 45 and 55 workers and is slated to begin production during the first quarter of next year. The new plant's total payroll is expected to exceed $2.5 million per year.

"The new Niagara Bottling manufacturing facility in Mesa will add quality jobs and tens of millions of dollars in capital investment in our communities," said CEO Chris Camacho of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, in a statement.

Mesa Councilmember Kevin Thompson, in a statement, called the bottling plant "a tremendous addition" to the city's Elliot Road Technology Corridor.

News of the new bottling plant continues a period of expansion for the Ontario, Calif.-based company, which revealed plans last year to add new plants in both Chesterfield County, Va., and Bloomfield, Conn.

An economic development official made note of Niagara's containers in the announcement of the new site. Niagara uses PET for bottles and high-density polyethylene for caps. "We applaud Niagara's commitment to 100 percent of its bottles and caps being recyclable," said Sandra Watson, CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, in a statement.