The publication is reproduced in full below:
CONGRATULATING MR. McKINLEY ``MACK'' WILBOURN
______
HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and pleasure to rise today, to extend heartfelt congratulations to an extraordinary entrepreneur, corporate leader, philanthropist, political savant, patron of the arts and friend of longstanding, Mr. McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn. On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, friends, family, leaders in commerce, government, and others from across the country, gathered at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, in Atlanta, Georgia to participate in ``The Mack Trilogy'' celebrating 50 years of excellence in business, Mack's 79th birthday and launching The Mack Wilbourn Legacy Foundation. It was a fitting tribute to a man who through hard work and perseverance used his God-given ``talent'', grew it to the pinnacle of financial success, and is reaching back to lift others behind him.
Mack Wilbourn, a native of Magnolia, Arkansas, attended Tucson High School and the University of Arizona where he majored in accounting. From one of his first jobs as a youth at Jack in the Box, he began his experience in the restaurant industry and in 1971, along with his partner, Brad Hubbert, became one of the first minority McDonald's franchisees in the Atlanta area, growing to 4 restaurants and 150 employees. His current franchises include Atlanta Bread & Bar, Baja Fresh Mexican, Famiglia Pizza, Phillips Seafood, Popeyes and We Juice It at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He is managing partner of MWJ, LLC, a vending company and has managed the Coca Cola Vending locations throughout the Atlanta airport since 2004. He started an angel investment firm focused on startup businesses that could potentially compete on the next level with proper resources and guidance.
Mack has pursued joint business opportunities as a consultant with Parodies Midfield Corporation, The Rouse Corporation (Underground Atlanta), and Service America Corporation (Fulton County Jail Foodservice), started the first Popeye's Chicken in an airport and his Edy's Ice Cream, also at the airport, and became an Olympic Licensee for color changing mugs for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.
Mack has earned numerous awards and been recognized by the Atlanta Business League, Minority Business Entrepreneur, Franchise Update, Georgia Restaurant Association, City of College Park, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, among many. Always politically active, he has hosted 4 Democratic Presidents: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama; and Joe Biden; as well as Congressional, State and local leaders from Mayor Maynard Jackson and Ambassador Andrew Young to Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock.
Believing that service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on this earth, Mack has been a servant leader in the larger community with Atlanta Business League, Butler Street YMCA, The Urban League, the NAACP, Zoo Atlanta, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, The National Black Arts Festival, The Atlanta Tip Off Club, Brain Injury Association of Georgia, The High Museum and Center for Puppetry Arts and numerous youth organizations.
Mack serves on the boards of Georgia Primary Bank, The Center Helping Obesity in Children End Successfully (CHOICES), The Piedmont Foundation, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Museum, and the Democratic National Finance Committee. Moreover, he is an active member of Salem Bible Church.
Mack Wilbourn has accomplished much in his 79 years of life. However, as a man of deep faith he knows that none of it would have been possible without the Grace of God and the love and support of his family including his sons, McKenzie and Marquis along with his 3 grandchildren.
It has been said that the true person of success is not the one who climbs the ladder of life with 2 hands but climbs with 1 hand and reaches back with the other. Mack is reaching back as he launches the McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn Legacy Foundation to transform, inspire and provide opportunities for the underserved in the areas of Art and Culture, Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy. His vision is to revolutionize the outlook and provide life changing opportunities for marginalized communities.
Mr. Speaker, McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn has done so much for so many for so long. I therefore ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the other Members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation and all those whose lives Mack has touched, in extending our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes on 50 years of excellence in business, 79 years of life and the launching of the McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn Legacy Foundation. To God be the Glory.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 169, No. 15
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