John W. Barfield began his career as a janitor, making $1.75 an hour, but he built a building- maintenance business so profitable that ITT outbid three other corporate giants to buy it in 1969. Barfield went on to develop one nation’s largest African-American owned business organizations. John Barfield’s success driven by his integrity and high ethical standards, built confidence in minority supplier programs that are now standard throughout American Industry.Starting From Scratch, John Barfield’s memoir, tells how the work ethic and spiritual principles his family used to better themselves in the Alabama cotton fields, Pennsylvania coal mines, and Michigan auto plants made him a consummate entrepreneur. Barfield’s journey illuminates the economic progress and social transformation that created modern America. It also shows the importance of providing greater fairness and more opportunity for the young people who will shape the twenty-first century.