About ClassB
Our family business started for the purpose of making shirts for our boy scout and girl scout troops. Our company operates on the values learned in Scouting.
ClassB’s goal as a company is to provide high quality decorated garments and custom products with a focus on the best artwork and processes. We take pride in always treating the customer in the same way we would like to be treated. Honestly and integrity is key at ClassB. All customers get the same deal. All prices and policies are as transparent as possible to the customer.
We stand by our work outside the literal nature of a contract. To demonstrate this dedication, we post customer comments and levels of satisfaction on the home page of our web site for all to see. We never censor a negative comment. We know that decorated t-shirts are a luxury item that can be purchased at thousands of other companies. We want customers to choose us because they know we will stand by them.
We are a full service screen printing, embroidery and advertising specialties company offering a wide range of promotional items to promote your organization.
The ClassB Story
It began in a garage…
In 1982, Shirts & Caps was started by Terry Hilferding to provide screenprinted t-shirts to the Zephyrhills community. The first t-shirts she printed were for her son Eric’s Boy Scout patrol. From there, Shirts & Caps became a valued supplier for local businesses, schools, and clubs. We expanded from the garage into a strip mall location in 1985. In 1994, we moved to our location on 5th Ave. Growth beyond East Pasco was planned. We looked at branches, telemarketing, mail order and outside sales people. None of these were very successful. In 1997, we put up our first website, an image of our current flyer. We learned that ampersands aren’t allowed in website names, so we searched for another way to describe ourselves. We created a website for each subset of customers. ClassB was used for the scouting market due to its short easy to remember name. We also needed a name that would reflect more than shirts, since we offered patches and resources on the Scouting site. The other sites usually had tees or shirts in the name. In September 2010, we defined our focus on non-profit organizations and families in a letter announcing the combining of all of our websites into ClassB.com:
When we started talking about this website consolidation, we realized that most of our customers share a couple things in common: You are volunteers in your community and you are active in your family. With this merger, we hope to do more to support the role you’re playing in strengthening your family, your community and our country. ClassB has the honor of making custom t-shirts for the best customers in America.
In 2013, We moved to our current location in Tampa. The new location is almost three times larger. We have faster access to Fedex and UPS. The move will help us manage the huge amount of growth we have seen in the past two years. We would like to thank our customers and our co-workers for making this move possible.
ClassB’s Achievements
Quality Licensee
We are very proud to have been recognized by the BSA as a ‘Quality Licensee’ for the last 10 years.
The Boy Scouts of America Quality Licensee program is designed to recognize licensees that achieve excellence through their commitment to ongoing product development, their steadfast adherence to the licensing program requirements, and their active support and promotion of the Boy Scouts of America and its programs.
SHARP Recognition
Another achievement we are very proud of is our SHARP recognition from the Occupation Safety and Health Administration. In addition to our external efforts with our nonprofit customer groups, we pride ourselves in working hard internally to provide a safe and enjoyable workplace for our employees. ClassB Safety Committee members and supporting staff have gone to great lengths to meet and exceed safety and health regulations.
We are Scouters!
As of 2014, We have 4 eagle scouts on staff. Six employees account for over 100 years of scouting experience!
Our CEO, Eric Hilferding, is an Eagle Scout. He has attended many jamborees and NOAC’s as a scout and on staff. Eric spent many years on summer camp staff at Camp La’No-Che. One of Eric’s passions is supporting the Scouting program.
If you want to read about a key moment in my scouting experience that defines how ClassB views products: I got a defective patch
Family Business
Our family attended the 2017 Jamboree. The three of us operated a booth for a few days. It was amazing meeting so many of our customers!
ClassB Culture
Our company ownership and management are guided by high ethical standards inspired by the scout oath / law and family values. We care deeply about the health and safety of our team and our community. We strive to lead our industry in the important areas of environmental standards and sustainability. We pride ourselves in being a responsible company in every way and do our best to earn everyones trust.
ClassB Environmental Responsibility
We have a responsibility to produce our t-shirts with as little environmental impact as possible. We work to reduce our chemical use, waste stream, emissions, and energy use and encourage others in our industry to do the same. We have many programs to make the company reduce its waste stream and recycle. We are very conscious of the chemicals we use and buy the most eco-friendly alternatives. We accept recycling from employees and their families. The eco-initiatives
ClassB Sourcing
Garment decoration and many other products are done in-house by our team. Some of our other products we source from our partners. Our key partners are vetted for a variety of concerns that are dear to us. We meet them and visit their production facilities, get to know them as people and make sure they are someone we can trust and that they share our basic beliefs in how business should be conducted and how customers should be served.
ClassB Social Responsibility
Our blank t-shirts and products begin their journey long before we purchase them. When we pass that product onto our customer, its history becomes our responsibility. That history must include fair and respectful treatment of all people in our supply chain.