JENNINGS, Missouri – Local entrepreneur Jimmy Williams Jr. opened a new McDonald’s restaurant in Jennings on Friday, August 13. This location, the fifth that Williams operates, is the first McDonald’s franchise in Jennings in 22 years.
Williams operates these franchises through Estel Foods, Inc., a business based in East St. Louis he founded and owns.
Williams grew up in East St. Louis and his father, James E. Williams Sr., was the first African-American mayor of the city.
As a teenager, Williams’ first job was at McDonald’s. He attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After earning his political science degree at the college, Williams went to the U.S. Navy, all the while knowing that he wanted to own his own business.
“It had always been a dream for him to own his own business,” Linda Lawson, Williams’ spokesperson, said. “Even while he was in the Navy, he was already preparing to become a businessman.”
He served as a Navy pilot and officer for nine years. While stationed in San Diego, he ran into a few St. Louis businessmen. He told them of his ambition to own and operate a McDonald’s franchise. The businessmen helped Williams get into the McDonald’s training program in 1996.
“When he came out [of the Navy] he devoted all of his time to get his first franchise. He had his family’s support, so he sunk all of savings into his first franchise,” Lawson said.
In 1998 Williams bought his first McDonald’s restaurant in Granite City, Illinois. By 2001 Williams had added two more restaurants to his business, one in Pontoon Beach, Illinois and another Granite City restaurant. In 2006 Williams added the first new building to his business when he built a McDonald’s in Bellefontaine Neighbors.
The new addition in Jennings, his fifth restaurant, is the second self-built McDonald’s for Williams’ Estel Foods, Inc.
Williams is very busy. He has to divide his time between his five restaurants, which employ about 400 people, and continue his charitable work with several organizations.
“He has a great team working for him. They oversee the individual stores and then he oversees them,” Lawson said. “Based on their information, depends on how much time is spent at one store. Literally everything can change within a few minutes. There is no concrete day.”
Williams is a member of the Executive Board for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Metro St. Louis, an organization in which Williams invests a lot of time as well. He is on a committee that raises money for Ronald McDonald Houses to be built in St. Louis.
Soon the 300th Ronald McDonald House in the world will be built in St. Louis on the St. John’s Mercy Hospital campus in West County. The facility will be the third Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis.
Williams also works with East St. Louis Public Library, Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation and Matthews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club.
“His civic life is as busy as his business,” Lawson said.
Williams also launched his own mentoring program five years ago with the help of Linda Lawson. The program is named in after Williams’ father, and focuses on building young men and women with a mind for business.
“What we do is we bring children from the area for a week or two weeks. We give them a feel of how to work at McDonald’s and how to run a business,” Lawson said.
“They cultivate a good business sense and a good work ethic. Those are things that young people need to succeed at life.”
Williams sees his business as a three-legged stool, which includes the corporation as the first leg, the owner and operator as the second leg, and the employees and customers as the third leg. For Williams, each leg is equally important for the success of his business.
