Michael Pearson, CEO and founder of Union Packaging, a Yeadon-based maker of paperboard packaging for food and quick service restaurants, has been recognized for his longstanding commitment to workforce diversity, writes Ayana Jones for the Philadelphia Tribune.

Fisher & Phillips LLP, a national labor and employment law firm, presented its first Business Leadership in Diversity Award to Pearson.

“Michael is an exemplary business leader who has demonstrated his commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and, on a broader basis, in the community in which he works, lives, and serves,” said Lori Armstrong Halber, partner in the Philadelphia office of Fisher & Phillips.

“We are proud to recognize him with our firm’s first annual Business Leadership in Diversity Award to honor the work he has put in over many years in the Greater Philadelphia region.”

Pearson, a native of West Philadelphia, founded Union Packaging in 1999. The company has grown to be one of the biggest suppliers of Food and Drug Administration-compliant paperboard packaging for food and quick service restaurants across the U.S.

The company is a certified African-American-owned minority business enterprise and has an 80 percent minority employee base.

“Clearly, we are in business to be profitable (and) to make money, but there are more things of importance, and one of those is inclusion and diversity,” Pearson said.

“One of the things that we’ve done since we’ve opened our doors close to 20 years ago was try to reach out to the community and provide opportunities to those of us who frequently don’t get an opportunity in terms of livable wage, career pathways, and opportunities.

“That’s part of our mission and it’s who we are. It goes just beyond the employees of Union Packaging to our nonprofit work and other engagements. Our job is to carry that into every organization and to make sure that we are making those groups more inclusive in terms of how they purchase products, how they hire people, and their concept of an accepting work environment where people can work without hostility or discrimination.”

Click here to read more about Michael Pearson’s commitment to workforce diversity in the Philadelphia Tribune.