[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E44-E45]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             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

[[Page E45]]

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.

                          ____________________