ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, UPS (NYSE:UPS) is hosting the second UPS Impact Summit, aligning with the company’s customer-first, people-led and innovation-driven business strategy. This year’s Summit brings together customers, employees, nonprofit leaders and government officials to discuss the importance of inclusion, innovation and collaboration as businesses work to positively impact communities. UPS CEO Carol B. Tomé will deliver the Summit’s welcome alongside Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other influential leaders from UPS, Walker & Company Brands and Beta Technologies.
“Operationalizing our purpose – moving our world forward by delivering what matters – is a constant for us every day, in every UPS community,” said Carol. “Today’s conversations reflect our ongoing commitment to the communities we serve and the collective work that’s necessary to make a difference in our hometown and around the world.”
Highlights from the 2023 UPS Impact Summit include:
- UPS announces the launch of an Emergency Child Care Initiative for U.S.-based frontline workers that addresses retention challenges impacting career advancement.
- UPS Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer Kevin Warren recognizes recipients of the 2023 UPS Ignite Grants, a program created to help diverse entrepreneurs access the resources and tools needed to grow their business.
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and The UPS Foundation President Nikki Clifton discuss the impact of The Foundation’s nearly $7 million in grants and sponsorships to 29 local partners and how community-minded corporations positively affect job growth and economic vitality.
“UPS is proud of our community engagement in our hometown of Atlanta and around the world,” said Laura Lane, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at UPS. “The UPS Impact Summit provides a platform to share the intentionality and scale of our efforts and how they uplift our employees, advance economic opportunities for small business owners and reinforce our commitment to achieve our sustainability goals."
Delivering a Difference for Our People
In partnership with Patch Child Care Solutions, the UPS Emergency Child Care Initiative was piloted from August 2022 to January 2023 during the evening shift at a UPS facility in Northern California. With goals of reducing work absences because of child care challenges and increasing retention, the initiative was a first-of-its-kind for UPS, which has over 2,000 facilities and more than 500,000 employees worldwide.
The pilot program offered emergency day care services onsite at the UPS facility, where parents would have the lowest possible barrier to using the new service. 80% percent of eligible employees participated and took advantage of the service more than once, avoiding more than 120 unplanned absences. Employee turnover among the pilot group dropped significantly, from 31% to 4%.
UPS is now expanding the emergency child care initiative to include additional shifts at the pilot site and select Pennsylvania facilities in the fourth quarter of 2023 – just in time for the busy holiday shipping season. Additional facilities across the U.S. will be added in 2024.
Delivering Opportunities for Small Business Customers
This year, in conjunction with the Impact Summit, UPS is also spotlighting its long-standing commitment to small businesses through programs such as UPS Ignite. In partnership with Accion Opportunity Fund, founders Annie Obasih of Annie’s Gourmet Syrup and Felicia Jackson of CPR Wraps will each receive UPS Ignite grants of $10,000 to help fuel their business growth. The following UPS small business customers will join today’s Summit at UPS headquarters: Beautiful Curly Me, Be Rooted, Edgar Evans, Good Boy Goodies, Kulture Karaoke, Sam Louise, Simplicity Beverage Company, Tee Saint Charles and The Chai Box.
About UPS
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is one of the world’s largest companies, with a 2022 revenue of $100.3 billion, and provides a broad range of integrated logistics solutions for customers in more than 200 countries and territories. Focused on its purpose statement, “Moving our world forward by delivering what matters,” the company’s more than 500,000 employees embrace a strategy that is simply stated and powerfully executed: Customer First. People Led. Innovation Driven. UPS is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and supporting the communities we serve around the world. UPS also takes an unwavering stance in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. More information can be found at www.ups.com, about.ups.com and www.investors.ups.com.
