John Creedon Sr.

President | Creedon and Co.

As one of eight children, John Creedon learned the value of hard work at an early age. When he was 12 years old he got a job at the Shrewsbury Pizzaria washing dishes. He worked there for the next 18 years, paying his way through St. John’s High School and Quinsigamond Community College.

“I was proud to graduate from QCC’s business program, earning my Associate degree in three semesters. Completing the degree a semester early while also working full-time gave me confidence in my own ability to accomplish goals,” Mr. Creedon said.

In 1985, he started a breakfast and lunch diner in Quinsigamond Village, Creedon and Co. In the early days, he started catering small events outside of the diner’s breakfast and lunch hours. Within three years, the catering side of the business had outgrown the diner business and so Creedon and Co. moved to a building on Millbury Street closer to downtown.

Eventually, Mr. Creedon closed the diner to focus solely on catering, and then began renting equipment such as tents, tables and chairs.

Today, Creedon and Co. employs almost 60 people, has a 30,000-square-foot facility off Grafton Street in Worcester housing its office, kitchen, and warehouse. Mr. Creedon is the immediate-Past President of the Mid-Atlantic Tent Renters’ Association, as well as a member of the American Rental Association.

On the catering side of the business, he is an active member of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and was instrumental in collaborating with the MRA to pass a caterer’s liquor license through the Massachusetts legislature in 2012.

He still runs the company, now with the assistance of his two kids, John Jr. and Julie, making Creedon and Co. truly a family business. 

“We have been fortunate to do business with QCC over the years including catering the MLK Day breakfasts in the gymnasium as well as providing the commencement tent on the upper field,” Mr. Creedon said. “Beyond that we are proud to have employed many QCC students and to also host an English as a Second Language class in our conference room taught by a QCC teacher for our Spanish-speaking employees.”

Mr. Creedon and his family also own the Worcester Bravehearts baseball franchise, which is part of the Futures League of New England.

“We believe that it is important for the Worcester community to have a baseball team.  A baseball team provides affordable, family-friendly entertainment in the summer and in some ways becomes a symbol of the community. We are fortunate to have a terrific staff with the ballclub and also that the community and some key stakeholders such as Holy Cross, the City of Worcester, Hanover Insurance, and the Worcester Chamber have embraced this project.”

Opening day for the Bravehearts is June 5.

“It’s important to me and to Creedon and Co. to be a good corporate citizen. We employ a significant number of people whose families come to rely on our employees’ livelihoods. Our community is good to Creedon and Co. and we try to reciprocate that goodwill,” Mr. Creedon said. “We work with and support a number of wonderful causes, events, activities, and nonprofit groups that do truly meaningful work day in and day out, such as the Special Olympics, the March of Dimes, the Boy Scouts of America, Alternatives Unlimited, and Children’s Friend to name a handful. We encourage our employees to be involved and volunteer in the community and our industries through various activities and organizations. We believe that a vibrant and dynamic community is good for families, good for our employees, and good for business.”