As a third-generation owner, Sally Hargis is carrying the torch into a new era at Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company.
Nov 2025
Sally Hargis pauses in front of a display case tucked into a hallway at Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company’s Springfield headquarters. Behind the glass are relics from more than a century of history: a faded photo of Hargis’s family members in front of an old delivery truck, a contoured green glass Coca-Cola bottle, and a picture from the first Coca-Cola Goodwill Golf Tournament in 1934. Each item tells part of the story that Hargis now carries forward as the third generation of family ownership at Ozarks Coca-Cola.
In her role as Vice President and Chairman of the Board, Hargis is a steward of the legacy established by her predecessors—including her grandfather Ed Rice, Sr., her father Ed “Cookie” Rice, Jr. and her aunt Virginia “Tookie” Rice-Heer—but she is a leader in her own right. Hargis has overseen a period of exponential growth for the 105-year-old company. She credits the company’s strong family values, its commitment to innovation and investment, and its deep-rooted ties to the region for charting a course that will help carry Ozarks Coca-Cola into the next generation.
Hargis grew up immersed in the family business. “My father and grandfather built the company with a vision of being the Coke entity, woven into the community,” says Hargis. “It took a lot of grit at that time period. I saw the integrity they lived and led with; I saw their deep respect for the people that led the business.” That respect is reflected in stories from those early days, like employee Huey Linegar, who spent his life with the company. Before he passed, Linegar recalled that Ed Rice, Sr., once gave him Coke stock as a thank-you during a time the company couldn’t afford extra compensation. Linegar never told his children, instead putting it in a growth fund that became part of their legacy—a quiet example of the people-first culture that continues today.
Cookie Rice and Hargis attend the 2022 Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Association Annual meeting.
One hundred years of company history on display.
Friends and family join Hargis and President/CEO Bruce Long to celebrate the opening of the new headquarters.
Although Hargis knew deep down she would join the business, after graduating from Mizzou, she spent the first decade of her career at KY3, where she gained valuable experience with the dynamics of local, family-owned enterprises. As a salesperson, one of her favorite projects was bringing together competing car dealerships for a joint advertising campaign. The project was an early lesson in how competitors could still collaborate for mutual success, which served her well when she joined Ozarks Coca-Cola in 1993.
Over the ensuing years, Hargis has navigated both the weight of legacy and the challenge of change. Her son Gregory represents the fourth generation of family leadership, having served as General Counsel, while Bruce Long is the first non-family member to be President and CEO. “There’s a sense of continuity,” Hargis says, “but there’s also evolution. We are not just preserving the legacy with the next chapter. We are expanding it.” Together, Hargis and Long have significantly grown Ozarks Coca-Cola’s reach and operations. Over the past decade, the company has increased its service area by 60 percent, added hundreds of employees and strengthened production and distribution capabilities. Today, the company employs nearly 900 people and distributes 650 varieties of beverages to 70 counties across four states.
This year, 2025, marks a milestone for Ozarks Coca-Cola, with the completion of a major two-phase project. The first phase, a 67,750-square-foot manufacturing facility, which includes the company’s first-ever can line, was completed in late spring 2024. The second phase—47,625 square feet of new office space—was finished earlier this year. The new can line created 50 new jobs and will have produced 9.3 million cases of beverages by the end of this year.
The can line is more than a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic investment in efficiency, cost savings and customer service. “Freight is a significant part of our cost to serve. Before the can line, we were purchasing 12-ounce cans from nine different bottlers throughout the nation. The can line made us self-sufficient,” Long says.
Hargis expands on that: “Producing here gives us flexibility in how we serve customers, and it helps expand their margins.”
The can line also highlights the company’s long-term thinking. “We don’t make decisions for just next year,” says Hargis. “We plan five to seven years ahead. My dad envisioned this can line 25 years ago, and now it’s a reality.”
Hargis continues: “We have a history of being willing to reinvest in our company. When people see the willingness of our family to invest in capital expenses that enable growth, it sends a signal that growth is important.”
One such investment, set to debut at the end of this year, is a $40 million automated packing system. Hargis calls the automation “the latest evolution in warehouse management,” and Long says that the packing system improves accuracy and replaces the labor-intensive task of hand-loading thousands of cases each night, ultimately supporting the well-being of employees.
That culture of caring extends beyond the warehouse. In 2006, when Long lost the roof of his home to a tornado, coworkers showed up en masse. By 10 a.m. the next morning, every item in his house had been moved into a Coke truck. “Sally emphasizes the human side of the business,” Long says.
During Board meetings, Hargis shares letters from the community—such as one from a motorist who praised a route driver for stopping and helping her with a flat tire—to show the company’s work is about more than profit. “We have a competitive edge by being local, and we have a passion for the brand, but it’s also about how we are in the community, taking care of people,” Long says. “Sally has unwavering dedication to ensuring our business is serving in the best way.”
Hargis channels that same care into her wide-ranging work with local and state organizations. For nearly a decade, she has served on the CoxHealth Board of Directors and recently took on the role of board chair. She is drawn by how closely the health system’s mission and values align with those of Ozarks Coca-Cola. “All decisions are made right here in Springfield, and the leadership can move quickly while staying true to its principles,” she says.
Max Buetow, CoxHealth’s President/CEO, works with Hargis on the CoxHealth Board of Directors. He has noticed Hargis’ fingerprints on many of the region’s important projects and causes. “Sally is a deeply engaged civic leader,” Buetow says. “Her humility, intellect and passion strengthen boards at the local, state and national levels. I love that Sally always cares enough to listen but is bold enough to challenge.”
Hargis is a long-time champion of youth programs, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, and serves on the board of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She also serves as a lay commissioner on Missouri’s Appellate Judicial Commission, helping guide judicial appointments and reflecting the same dedication to community that drives all her work.
Hargis says she is uncomfortable being called a leader. “I prefer learner and cheerleader,” she says. “I am never going to know everything about this business.” Yet she is a bridge between Ozarks Coca-Cola’s past and its future. She knows the story behind every piece of memorabilia, guides the company through rapid expansion and looks ahead to the future. When she shows visitors the new office building, she points not only to the display cases and executive offices, but also to a massive open space just off the entryway—empty now, but ready for the growth that will shape.
