Associated said today it has been selected for the second year in a row to host Loyola University Chicago's supply chain conference, scheduled to be held June 4.

"We are very excited about this opportunity to work with the Supply and Value Chain Center of the Quinlan School of Business" at the university, said Mike Romano, president and CEO of Associated and Peach State Integrated Technologies, which Associated acquired last year.

"It is imperative for the academic community to have partners in (the) supply chain like Associated that will enable us to support the growing needs of the Chicago business community" in developing solutions to supply chain challenges, said John A. Caltagirone, founding director, Supply and Value Chain Center of the Quinlan School.

The Quinlan School is named for Michael R. Quinlan, a former chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corp. and chairman of Loyola's board of trustees. Quinlan is endowing $40 million to the business school, part of $100 million that will be provided to the school. The Supply and Value Chain Center will receive between $5 million and $10 million of the total amount, according to Caltagirone.

"We feel we are the 'go-to' school when it comes to supply chain," he said.