Employees of Concessions International, the food and beverage management firm at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, were showered with appreciation during a luncheon celebrating the company’s 45th anniversary. The event was held in the Ocean Ballroom of the Georgia Aquarium on Wednesday.
Current and former employees, retirees, and staff who work at airports in such cities as Denver and Miami were in attendance. Including Hartsfield, Concessions International manages food and beverage at eight major airports.
“You are the key to our history,” said CEO Donata Russell Ross. “You stood by us during some interesting times. “You all are the people who are out in the field every day doing the work for us. Thank you for your dedication. You are extremely valued and we really, really appreciate you as part of our family.”
Her father, the late businessman and developer Herman J. Russell, and his two friends, Felker W. Ward, Jr. and Jesse Hill, Jr., started Concessions International at Los Angeles International Airport in 1979. Phillip Williams, who was one of the original 25 employees, attended Wednesday’s luncheon.
The business became family-owned in 1999 when Russell purchased the interest of Ward and Hill.
Ross noted how Concessions International has overcome challenging periods such as the pandemic and 9/11.
During a video presentation, Vice President of Operations Support and Finance André Wiggins, who has been with CI for 31 years, recalled how, in the days after Sept. 11, employees agreed to take a 20% pay cut for six months to avoid layoffs.
“It just shows again that we were all in it together. We consider ourselves a family… and we made it through,” Wiggins said in the video.
Concessions International has grown exponentially since 1979. The business now operates name-brand eateries at airports across the U.S. Historic Pashcal’s restaurant is one of the brands located both inside the airport as well as outside in the Castleberry Hill community of Atlanta.
The elder Russell died in 2014. While Ross runs Concessions International, her brothers H. Jerome and Michael lead real estate development at H.J. Russell and Company and entrepreneurship efforts at Russell Innovations Center for Entrepreneurs.
Last October, the Council for Quality Growth honored the family with the Four Pillar Award. And Ross was inducted into the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Hospitality Hall of Fame.
In February, the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey honored Ross with the Public Service Award.
Concessions International employees describe her as “a strong, strong, caring leader,” “compassionate” and an unwavering “amazing listener.”
“I’m just not one who feels like my journey is a singular journey,” Ross told the luncheon audience. “We can’t achieve what we achieve in life without everybody’s participation and help. These people who work with me… the people who have worked with me, the people who have mentored me, they have made all the difference in my life.”
