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APCOA PARKING (APCOA) and UPS have launched an international partnership in the field of environmentally-friendly micro-logistics. For several years now, UPS has been using APCOA car parks in Ireland to transfer deliveries from large containers to cargo bikes for last-mile delivery to end customers. Starting this year, the two companies have extended their partnership to Germany. APCOA and UPS are now collaborating at bases in Dublin, Hamburg and Cologne with plans in place to continuously expand their partnership over the next few years.

By joining forces, the two companies are helping to reduce CO2 emissions, traffic noise and congestion, thereby making urban logistics more sustainable. At the same time, the partnership allows APCOA to exploit existing multi-storey car park capacities as APCOA URBAN HUBS. UPS also benefits from being able to use cargo bikes to accelerate deliveries, as bikes are not held up by traffic jams and can more easily and quickly navigate through urban traffic.

“By joining forces with UPS, we are expanding our URBAN HUBS network, which provides the infrastructure for a wide range of sustainable urban services”, says Philippe Op de Beeck, CEO of APCOA PARKING Group. “By deploying our parking areas as transshipment hubs, we are providing the requisite infrastructure for environmentally-friendly logistics. As a result, we are making a valuable contribution to climate change mitigation and taking another significant step towards becoming the car park of the future”.

During the week before Thanksgiving, the Atlanta Hawks and UPS, the official delivery and logistics partner of the Hawks, teamed up with Goodr, an Atlanta-based social impact startup leveraging technology to reduce food waste and end hunger, to provide ‘Thanksgiving Day essentials’ to more than 350 families in Clayton County.

The event, which took place in Riverdale, Georgia, at the Virginia Burton Gray Recreation Center, featured Head Coach Nate McMillan, Assistant Coach Joe Prunty, the 2020-21 NBA leader in rebounds per game Clint Capela, and the team’s 2021 first-round draft pick Jalen Johnson. They were joined by team executives, various members of Hawks Entertainment including Harry the Hawk and the ATL Hawks Dancers as well as volunteers from UPS.

“We are grateful to join UPS and Goodr in hosting this special pop-up just before Thanksgiving,” said Hawks Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility Andrea Carter. “Having Coach McMillan, Clint Capela and Jalen Johnson carve out some time for this event to impact so many families in our community speaks to what it really means to be ‘True to Atlanta.’”

Knock, knock. Black business just arrived at your doorstep, and it’s all thanks to UPS.

The small business landscape in the United States has changed significantly, especially over the last decade, as diverse communities and minorities have grown in both management and executive positions, as well as in the operation of small- and medium-sized businesses.

However, despite these projections, independent businesses led by minorities still face a series of obstacles, including structural, cultural and financial disadvantages, which make them more vulnerable to their competitors. An example of this occurred during January 2021, when small and medium-sized minority-owned and operated businesses were the first to receive government assistance, within the economic relief package that Congress approved at the end of 2020 to cope with the effects of COVID-19.

James “Big Brown” Joseph stands 6-foot-8, but he received an honor recently that rivals him in stature.

The UPS driver received the Angel Award presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield Louisiana Foundation during a ceremony in Baton Rouge.

As part of the honor, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Louisiana Foundation presented a $25,000 to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which helped Joseph start the fund for UPS employees to contribute to the fundraising program.