Representatives from Philadelphia-based Aramark Corporation presented a $2.25 million check to Morehouse College Thursday as an investment in a partnership that will expand facility maintenance services and bring new jobs to the College.
Morehouse President David A. Thomas accepted the check, formally ushering in a closer working relationship with Aramark, the College’s dining services provider. Aramark is also now overseeing facilities management.
The partnership will increase Morehouse’s access to national facility management experts, energy efficiency strategists, skilled labor, and high-tech equipment. It will also expand Morehouse’s purchasing capabilities.
“Aramark is going to make a real difference here for us,” Thomas said. “This partnership will enable Morehouse to expand the team that maintains our historic campus and make needed repairs and upgrades to some of our facilities at a cost savings.”
Alan Robertson, Vice President for Business & Finance, said the opportunity to partner with Aramark on facility services was a plan that the College first considered in 2014. It was revisited and instituted under the leadership of President Thomas.
“We are bringing all of the trades back that we had in facilities – carpenters, plumbers. We are outsourcing it to Aramark,” Robertson explained.
Aramark officials said as many as 70 new employees will be hired to upkeep buildings and grounds at Morehouse. Ten employees from Morehouse’s former Campus Operations office were the first to transition to Aramark. The employees will receive enhanced career opportunities and benefits with Aramark.
“We will bring the right skills set to the campus to accomplish the goals that we have for the Facilities department,” said Enrico Hunter, Aramark’s general manager for Morehouse College. “We also have an arm that we can reach back to at the corporate level to provide subject matter experts. We brought on a full-time energy manager to the department who will look at all of our energy expenditures and work to make the campus very efficient.”
Aramark will work with Morehouse students to launch energy conservation campaigns. In addition, students will also be considered for corporate internships.
Aramark is a national leader in providing facilities management and other professional services to colleges and universities across the United States. The corporation serves 150 institutions and employs 270,000 people.
“The journey is just beginning,” Trevor Ferguson, Vice President of Facilities for Aramark, said of his work with Morehouse. “We are looking forward to executing and delivering on our promises. Communities like this have helped me to grow and evolve as an individual. I am honored to be a part of it.”
