Aramark Increases Support of Minority-Owned Businesses: Announces Centers of Excellence Mentoring Cohort for Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, Delaware, and Southern California Businesses

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aramark, the leading U.S.-based food service provider, announced today the start of its second mentoring cohort with the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council (EMSDC) and Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council (SCMSDC), continuing its support of small businesses and businesses owned and operated by minorities, women, and other diverse populations.

Aramark has a longstanding commitment of partnering with small, diverse suppliers to drive customer satisfaction and local economic impact. The three-month Centers of Excellence (COE) mentoring program with EMSDC and SCMSDC will match Aramark executives and volunteers from Aramark’s employee resource groups (ERGs) with nine minority/women business enterprises (M/WBEs) from Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and southern California for business skills training, best practices sharing, executive coaching sessions, and more.

The objective of the COE is for Aramark leaders and volunteers to share their knowledge to help M/WBEs grow professionally and personally. By doing this, Aramark is creating a stronger supply chain, supporting the growth of minority businesses, enhancing opportunities for diverse suppliers, developing results-focused coaching, and mentoring relationships between Aramark executive coaches and program mentees.

“Aramark’s commitment to working with small businesses and businesses owned and operated by minorities, women, and other diverse populations is key to forming strategic relationships that provide more culturally authentic products, increase value for our clients, and foster local economic impact,” said Natily Santos, Vice President of Responsible Sourcing at Aramark. “Supporting M/WBE mentoring opportunities is an essential supply chain initiative that contributes greatly to our sustainability, community relations, and diversity and inclusion goals.”

In addition to its mentoring work with the EMSDC and SCMSDC, Aramark also partners with the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (Chicago MSDC) for the Progress, Insight & Performance Education program for M/WBEs. This eight-week, advanced business management program provides participants with the skills and knowledge needed to optimize their business.

Aramark’s Be Well. Do Well. sustainability plan starts with people and includes a goal of enabling equity and well-being for millions, including the company’s employees, consumers, communities, and people in its supply chain. The company’s robust supply chain already includes more than 4,600 small businesses and other diverse suppliers or subcontractors, including 1,505 supplier relationships with M/WBEs across the enterprise.

In the US, Aramark’s annual spend with small businesses and diverse suppliers exceeded $592 million in FY2021, including approximately $300 million with M/WBEs. Nearly 6,000 jobs are supported through Aramark’s supplier diversity spend, with $950 million of total economic impact attributed to the company’s Supplier Diversity program in FY21.

To learn about how Aramark is growing with small, local, and diverse suppliers, please visit Aramark.com. If you are a small or diverse owned company, and would like to work with Aramark, please visit the Aramark Supplier Diversity Registration Portal.

About Aramark
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) proudly serves the world’s leading educational institutions, Fortune 500 companies, world champion sports teams, prominent healthcare providers, iconic destinations and cultural attractions, and numerous municipalities in 19 countries around the world with food, facilities, and uniform services. Because our culture is rooted in service, our employees strive to do great things for each other, our partners, our communities, and our planet. Aramark ranked No. 1 In the Diversified Outsourcing Services Category on FORTUNE’s 2022 List of ‘World’s Most Admired Companies’ and has been named to DiversityInc’s “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” list, the Forbes list of “America’s Best Employers for Diversity,” the HRC’s “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” and scored 100% on the Disability Equality Index. Learn more at www.aramark.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.