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A Bethesda caterer's renewal of a three-year, multimillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Golf Association for the U.S. Open Championship highlights signs of recovery in the region's catering industry.

Ridgewells anticipates from $7 million to $10 million in gross revenues through the next three U.S. Open tournaments. This year's championship will take place at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda June 13-19. Ridgewells will provide catering services to as many as 60,000 people at each tournament, including corporate hospitality clients and the media.

"We are delighted and honored to once again have landed this major business with the USGA's U.S. Open Championship," CEO Susan Lacz said in a statement, adding that she is especially pleased that this year's location with be "right in our backyard."

Ridgewells also will cater the U.S. Open tournaments at the Olympic Club in San Francisco next year and Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., in 2013.

The 82-year-old company has worked with the golf association since 1993, catering 14 U.S. Opens, including at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., in 2009, according to company information.

"What we believe in is a being creative and fresh and customer-oriented," she said in an interview, as Ridgewells is considered a boutique caterer in the major event sector. "We provide the level of service they're looking for and deserve."

The new contract is Ridgewells' biggest and is encouraging after two years of customers spending less, Lacz said.

"Entertaining is the first thing to go," she said.

Ridgewells has the advantage of having a strong foundation and having weathered many economic storms, Lacz said, and the company knows how to get "lean and mean."

An ongoing survey of about 150 catering executives shows 58.8 percent reporting year-over-year growth, although mostly of less than 10 percent, according to the National Association of Catering Executives in Columbia. Most executives also anticipate more weddings and corporate events in 2011.

Maryland caterers did better than others because of the big federal government presence, said Bonnie Fedchock, executive director of the organization. She said corporate catering has been hardest hit, with businesses holding back on holiday parties and other events.

"You're not going to put your wedding on hold because of the recession, but you might put off your business party," Lacz said.

Fedchock said the post-recession market also shows the new trend of caterers signing non-disclosure agreements with businesses, as businesses try to keep these events out of the public eye.

"Ridgewells has a long history with the USGA and the U.S. Open," Reg Jones, managing director of the U.S. Open, said in a statement. "We know with Ridgewells that our corporate clients are in the best of hands and can expect the best possible food and service, and this continues to set the Open apart from other client entertainment opportunities."

Throughout the U.S. Open tournaments, Ridgewells teams with local businesses in the host area. That ensures a "sizable" amount of revenue is pumped back into the local economy, as Ridgewells prepares its offerings from local products, Lacz said.

The U.S. Open is expected to have as much as a $160 million impact on the local economy, with Ridgewells planning to hire from 400 to 700 people for each championship, according to company information. Ridgewells has 175 full-time employees and relies on the staffing services of its sister company, Purple Tie by Ridgewells, for additional personnel.

The Ridgewells group features several sister companies, consisting of Purple Tie, Haute Catering, CapitolHost — which caters for the U.S. House — and a joint venture with Jose Andres' ThinkFoodGroup restaurants called Jose Andres Catering with Ridgewells.

The company also has provided services at nearly 20 presidential inaugurations, numerous government events, five private schools and other sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the AT&T National golf tournament and tennis tournaments.

Ridgewells also will be helping the U.S. Gold Association obtain corporate support for the Open through Lacz's membership in the executive committee at the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

lrobbins@gazette.net