06-09-2024 HOF - Flipbook - Page 9
Baltimore Sun Media | Sunday, June 9, 2024
JAMES BRITTON
I
n 1991, as James Britton drew up plans for a new professional staffing agency,
he knew he would need something to make his fledgling business stand out.
“I had to have a hook,” Britton recalled, “and my hook was service.”
He focusedonhiringandtrainingtop-notchwaitersandbartenders,outfitting
them with tuxedos from Yves Saint Laurent to add even more polish. The staffing agency was the genesis of what would become Class Act Catering, which has
landed contracts with major venues in the city, including the National Aquarium
and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, across more than three decades in businesses.
Britton, who goes by Jim, didn’t initially picture a career working in the hospitality industry.
He grew up in Edmondson Village, graduated from Edmondson High School and, after a stint
in the U.S. Marine Corps, went to work as a security guard.
But spending so much time around the corrections system began to make him feel like a prisoner himself, and so he found a second job, moonlighting as a caterer. He was fascinated by the
business right away.
“I just fell in love with going to different venues, watching them transform a room with the
event planners and florists and the musicians all being
Name: James Britton
Age: 64
Hometown: Edmondson Village
Current residence: Finksburg
Education: Edmondson High
School, MBE program certificate
from Coppin State University
Career highlights: Founder and
president of Class Act Catering,
one of Baltimore’s largest
minority-owned employers;
operated restaurants including
Britton’s and Class Act Café;
exclusive caterer for the Reginald
F. Lewis Museum; U.S. Marine
Corps veteran
Civic and charitable activities:
Works with Steve & Marjorie
Harvey Foundation to bring local
youth to sports tournaments;
former board member for the
Baltimore Area Convention and
Visitors Association
Family: Married to Marcine
Britton; two children, two
grandchildren
strategically placed in the empty space,” Britton said.
“It created a marvelous sight.”
One thing he didn’t see, however, were people of
color in leadership roles within the industry.
“I was a manager, bartender, server,” he said. “I
worked from the bottom, learning the whole [business].
But what was missing, for me, was I didn’t see anybody
of my color who had any ownership.”
Britton decided to build his way to the top, learning the ropes from mentors as he made plans to start
his own company. With bank loans difficult to obtain,
particularly as a person of color, “I started small and
said patience is going to be my virtue,” he said.
The Dopkin family, owners of the Classic Catering
People, taught him the basics of the business. Marty
Resnick, founder of Martin’s Caterers, clued him in to
joint ventures, which became a launching pad for Class
Act Catering.
Britton’s catering business partnered with
Fortune 500 companies, like
Aramark and Compass, that
had set aside a portion of
revenue to do business with
minority-owned companies.
Through these ventures, he
brought Class Act to stadiums, convention centers and
even rest stops in Maryland.
“There’s nothing wrong
with duplicating success,”
he said. “It’s all part of taking
something that someone’s
done great, and either trying
to do it greater, or trying to
match the quality.”
Class Act Catering and
Martin’s West still partner
on a program that hires 50
to 60 youths each summer to
prepare boxed lunches. For
many young people, it’s their
first job experience.
“It’s a great way for a kid
to learn how to start working, being on time, being
productive,” Britton said.
“We have a saying: If you’re
early, you’re on time. If
you’re on time, you’re late.
If you’re late, you might not
have a job.”
Britton has made mentoring Baltimore’s youths a
priority from the start of his
career in hospitality. In the
early 1990s, when Class Act
opened a small cafe in East
Baltimore, he invited kids
in to grab a bite to eat, do
their homework and work
odd jobs such as sweeping
steps and polishing dishes.
Now, from his headquarters
in Randallstown, he works
with the day care next door
for career days and cooking demonstrations. Several
former employees of Class
Act Catering have gone on
to open their own staffing
agencies and restaurants.
“When they saw that there
was another person that
looked like them, dressed
up in a suit and running the
business, it gave them inspiration,” Britton said.
He also lives by a philosophy of giving back and
preserving connections.
When former Mayor Kurt
Schmoke booked Class
Act Catering for his 5,000person inaugural party at
the Baltimore Convention
Center, Britton went back to
his former mentors for help
with the staffing and equipment.
“I believe in building
mountains, but not burning
bridges,” he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic
presented a special challenge for the catering industry, with business drying up
as gatherings were canceled.
Class Act stayed afloat by
partnering with chef José
Andrés’ World Central
Kitchen to prepare meals
for the community.
Four years later, weddings
and events are back in full
force, Class Act Catering has
a staff of 15 full-time workers and more than 100 parttime employees, and Britton
is still just as focused on
superior service as when he
got his start.
“What’s in our character,
our DNA: that’s what I want
people to remember about
Class Act,” he said.
— Amanda Yeager
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