User:AristidesSmith

Aristides Peter Smith (born June 5 1951), also known as Ari Smith, is an American entrepreneur of Greek decent. Raised on the south side of Chicago, he attended Koraes elementary school at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago. In the 60's his parents relocated to Athens, Greece where he attended high school at American Community Schools of Athens

In the 70's Ari moved back to the US to Illinois State University, Normal IL where he received multiple degrees. A BS Business Administration and an MBA in Operations Management. Also, during his tenure at ISU, Ari began his management career as a Resident Hall Manager.

Upon graduation in 1976, Ari joined United Parcel Service and was part of the UPS team as Manager of Industrial Engineering for a number of years. He served overseas during the company’s expansion into Germany training new employees in UPS delivery techniques.

In 1986, Ari was named Executive Vice President of Operations for Staley Continental Foodservice a $ 2.5 Billion food manufacturer and distributor where he headed up supply chain operations for multiple divisions.

Since 1988, Ari has been serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Next Generation Logistics, Inc.(NGL) specializing in supply chain consulting, managed logistics services and transportation software.