Jerry Lewis, owner of 17 McDonald's restaurants in west central Ohio and recipient of the corporation's 2010 Golden Arch Award, will give Bluffton University's Presidential Leadership Lecture at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, in Yoder Recital Hall.
"A Labor of Love: Balancing God, Family, Friends and Work" is the title of Lewis' talk, which is free and open to the public. He will share his story-including his start at McDonald's as a crew person/manager and why he chose to stay with the company-as well as advice based on his 30 years of leadership.
Lewis, a Bluffton trustee from 1998-2010, is among the less than 1 percent of McDonald's franchise owners to receive the Golden Arch Award worldwide. It recognizes the recipient's focus on customer service and quality, contributions to the success of the McDonald's brand and community involvement. Lewis, who started his first McDonald's in Bluffton in 1987, now employs more than 850 people at his restaurants in a seven-county area.
The Bluffton resident has been a member of the Lima Civic Center board and treasurer of the Lima/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau board. He received the Lima/Allen County Visionary Award in 2008. He also serves the Lima community through his annual Thanksgiving Day dinner, which feeds nearly 2,000 people and provides them with bags of groceries and clothing items.
