By David Kirk, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — When Josh Pearson attended Fairmont State University, he drove by the vacant Coca-Cola bottling plant nearly every day.
“I must’ve driven by this place a thousand times, always knowing it as the Coke plant,” Pearson said. “To now be in it is surreal, its exciting to have a successful business and to put it right down the street from where you lived in college.”
Pearson is the owner of Mountaineer Packaging, a Charleston-based wholesale packaging distributor. Just recently, he moved his northern office out of Morgantown, down the river to the east side of Fairmont.
When the company expanded to Morgantown, Pearson knew he’d need more space eventually, but didn’t know just how quickly the business would grow in the new area.
“When I leased the facility in Morgantown, I told the owner I’d need more space in about six months,” Pearson said. “It only took about four months. When we needed more space … everybody kept telling me to look at the old coke plant. … That’s where we ended up.” …