Moline native is new Mercado executive director
Mercado on Fifth is gearing up to reopen in May with a renewed sense of mission and a new leader.
Frances Williams, a Moline native who spent the last 24 years in Denver, Colo., was hired in January as Mercado’s new executive director. She joins the nonprofit organization as it prepares for what will be the eighth season of the popular Friday night outdoor markets on 5th Avenue in downtown Moline, this year to run May 24-Sept. 27.
“We could not have found a better person for Mercado on Fifth at this stage,” Maria Ontiveros, who co-founded the organization with her late grandfather Bob Ontiveros, founder of Group O, said in a Wednesday release. “Not only will Frances add value to our network of small and minority-owned businesses, she has already demonstrated incredible leadership for our team in her first few weeks.”
Williams’ work experience includes 3.5 years with Mi Casa Resource Center, one of the largest and oldest Latino-serving organizations in the state of Colorado where she led the only Women’s Business Center in Colorado for the Small Business Administration, the release said.
While at Mi Casa, and serving as Senior Director of Pathways, she managed a team of 25+ employees responsible for direct service of career/workforce development and small business/entrepreneurship support. She was a key member of a transition team brought in to take in-person training virtual and then to a new hybrid model amidst the COVID pandemic.
“My passion is to assist other entrepreneurs in launching their own formalized businesses that can not only build wealth and prosperity for themselves but also future generations,” Williams said Wednesday. “Coming back to the Quad Cities and being able to continue that mission through Mercado is a blessing.”
Prior to Mi Casa, she launched three of her own businesses as well as dedicated nearly 20 years of her career in service to the protection and preservation of multi-generational wealth and business for future generations.
Fluent in Spanish
Of Colombian descent and fluent in Spanish, Williams spent four years prior to COVID expanding her financial planning services to families in the majority of Latin American countries.
“Becoming a new steward to the mission of Mercado is something I am quite excited and honored to continue,” Williams said. “Having places where the minority entrepreneurs can get education, support and celebration of who they are and where they are in their journey is key to economic growth and prosperity. Mercado’s place and influence in Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa will continue to grow.”
She succeeds Anamaria Rocha, who took a new job Dec. 1, 2022 as business manager for Iman Consulting, which is led by LaDrina Wilson. Ontiveros led Mercado in the interim.
Since Mercado was launched in 2016, the organization has been building an equitable local economy by supporting small-scale entrepreneurship. Working with its community partners, including Black Hawk College and the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Western Illinois University-Quad Cities, the organization has helped to start over 60 new businesses, most of which are minority-owned, Wednesday’s release said.
“I look forward to continuing to professionalize the organization with systems and processes that will help not only our internal team but also external shareholders and partners like our valued vendors,” Williams said.
She is a graduate of Seton Catholic School, Alleman High School and studied International Business, Finance and Business Administration at Northern Illinois University, Black Hawk College and Saint Mary’s College.
Williams is very family oriented and loves being in the company of her many Midwestern cousins. Due to the sudden loss of her father, she moved back to the Quad Cities in late 2023.
For more information on Mercado, visit its website HERE.
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