Atlanta paper hires new Coke reporter

Jeremiah McWilliams, a business reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has been hired by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to cover Coca-Cola and restaurant companies.

He replaces Joe Guy Collier, who left the paper to move to Michigan.

McWilliams, who covered Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, writes on the Post-Dispatch’s Lager Heads blog, “In my new position, I will be covering the beverage industry — focusing on Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest beverage company — as well as Georgia-based restaurant chains such as Wendy’s/Arby’s and Chick-fil-A. My last day at the Post-Dispatch will be Wednesday, Dec. 2.

Read more here. In an e-mail to friends and business acquaintances, McWilliams wrote, “I am very excited about the new opportunity, but I also realize I will miss the great times in St. Louis. Covering the beer industry and consumer products here has been extremely rewarding. I am thankful for all the great people I’ve met and the high level of interest in the Post-Dispatch‘s coverage. It has added up to an amazing time.

“The folks who have helped me do my job — sources, editors, friends, PR folks, readers and just people around town — are too numerous to thank individually in this e-mail. But I want to let all of you know that I sincerely appreciate your help, support, criticisms, rants and tips.”