HISTORY
The Montana Beverage Association (mtbev.org) is the trade association for Montana’s refreshing non-alcoholic beverage industry, serving the public and its members since the early 1940s. It has lived under several names including most recently as the Montana Soft Drink Association.
Mtbev’s mission is to promote the development, preservation, and operation and general welfare of the refreshing, non-alcoholic beverage industry in Montana. Mtbev represents beverage producers, distributors, franchise companies and support industries in Montana. Together, they bring to market hundreds of brands, flavors and packages, including regular and diet soft drinks, bottled water and water beverages, 100 percent juice and juice drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks and ready-to-drink teas.
Mtbev represents its members on the federal, state, and local levels of government and provides a forum in which members convene to consider issues of interest, while maintaining their traditional spirited competition in the marketplace. The Association also serves as a liaison between the industry, government, and the public, and provides a unified voice in legislative and regulatory matters.
The non-alcoholic beverage industry plays an important role in Montana’s economy. Our industry has a direct economic impact of $88 million, provides more than 1,300 jobs and helps to support thousands more that depend, in part, on non-alcoholic beverage sales for their livelihoods. Non-alcoholic beverage companies and their employees, and the firms and employees indirectly employed by the industry, provide significant tax revenues – more than $77.7 million at the state level and nearly $85.5 million at the federal level – and contribute more than $2.7 million to charitable causes in communities across Montana.
