John Noble Masi

President

John Noble Masi started in the foodservice industry with a pastry bag of fresh whipped meringue to be used for topping Classic Baked Alaskas when he was only 5 years old. This early Passion lead John to pursue a Professional career in Hospitality starting with his first full time summer job at the age of 13. John attended the premiere culinary school in the world in 1984: The Culinary Institute of America before he moved to Florida to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management and Master’s degree in Business Administration at Florida International University.

Since graduating in 1991, John dedicated the past 20 years to a career in on-site foodservice management, working for 2 of the top 3 Global Foodservice Management companies in positions that continually increased his responsibility from General Manager to a Regional Vice President role. Today, John teaches young culinarians as a Professor at The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. In 2011, John formed Hospitality Performance Partners, bringing this same Performance, Partnership, Professionalism, and Passion to a new company focusing solely on client interests.

Noble Masi

Corporate Executive Chef

(C.E.P.C., C.M.B., A.A.C., H.O.F., C.H.E.)

Noble L. Masi retired as a professor in baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 2000. As one of the three longest serving professors in the history of the college, Chef Masi was named a CIA Heritage Professor in 2006. During his 35-year tenure, he served as chairman of the baking department, coordinator of the Progressive Learning Year system, director of continuing education, and director of education. Chef Masi joined the Hospitality Performance Partners team in 2011.

Chef Masi received the American Academy of Chefs Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. He was named Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation (ACF) in 1999. He earned the ACF’s Professionalism Award in 1996, and was the organization’s Educator of the Year in 1982.

He was introduced to the foodservice industry through his family's bakery and added to his knowledge at the Food & Maritime Trades High School in New York City. He then studied at the American Institute of Baking and became a member of the American Society of Baking Engineers.

An advisor to the Culinary Institute of Canada and the University of British West Indies, Chef Masi is a member of the American Academy of Chefs (the ACF’s honor society) and the Order of the Golden Toque. He is a Certified Executive Pastry Chef (C.E.P.C.), Certified Master Baker (C.M.B.), and Certified Hospitality Educator (C.H.E.). Chef Masi has served as chairman of the Retail Bakers Association’s Master Bakers’ Exam.

He has served as program administrator for the ACF Master Chef Certification Program and founded the Mid-Hudson Culinary Association, where he served as Chairman of the Board. He has also served two terms as national ACF treasurer.

The author of Baking Fundamentals (Prentice Hall, 2006), Chef Masi holds an associate degree in business and a bachelor of science degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of New Haven in New Haven, CT.

Jerry Dickman

Procurement Specialist

Little did Jerry know that over 30 years ago he would begin his career in contract foodservice by working as a student at Truman State University.

After college, Jerry began his career with Canteen Corporation in 1984 as an Assistant Manager at the Ford Motor Plant in Hazelwood Missouri. His career with Canteen provided him with many industry opportunities that included working with McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, Chrysler and Washington University.

Jerry’s entrance in the K-12 market segment opportunity came in 1989 when he became the Food Service Director at Troy School District in Troy Missouri. There he managed a team of more than 50 employees and built the foodservice program revenues over 1.5M in a district with 3,500 students. During his tenure at Troy, Jerry was often called upon to participate in the sales process throughout the country and established himself as a diversified employee within the eK-12 market segment.

In 1995 with the purchase of Canteen Corporation to the Compass Group, Jerry started his career in sales for the newly established Chartwells Division. For over 15 years Jerry sales career produced average sales of more than 15M in annual revenue with contract values at more than 1 Billion Dollars. His territory of responsibility spanned throughout more than 25 states and his knowledge of the procurement process is second to none.