As Mercado on Fifth gears up for its May 2024 reopening it will have a new and experienced leader, Frances Williams, at its helm, the popular Moline outdoor marketplace announced Wednesday, March 6.
Ms. Williams is a Moline native who spent the past 24 years in Denver, Colorado. She was hired in January as Mercado’s new executive director. She joins the nonprofit Mercado organization as it prepares for its eighth season of Friday night markets, a news release from that organization said.
“We could not have found a better person for Mercado on Fifth at this stage,” said Maria Ontiveros. She co-founded the organization with her late grandfather Bob Ontiveros, founder of Group O in Milan. “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.”
Ms. Williams replaces interim director Antonio Varela. He stepped in when former director Anamaria Rocha left Mercado to take a leadership post at Iman Consulting in late 2023.
Ms. Williams’ work experience includes three and half years with Mi Casa Resource Center. It is one of the largest and oldest Latino-serving organizations in Colorado, the release said. There she was director of the only Women’s Business Center in Colorado for the Small Business Administration.
Led a staff of 25
While with Mi Casa, she also was senior director of Business Pathways and managed a team of more than 25 employees responsible for direct service of career and workforce development and small business and entrepreneurship support.
Ms. Williams also 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-19 pandemic.
“My passion is to assist other entrepreneurs in launching their own formalized businesses that cannot only build wealth and prosperity for themselves but also future generations,” Ms. Williams said in the release. “Coming back to the Quad Cities and being able to continue that mission through Mercado is a blessing.”
Before joining Mi Casa, Ms. Williams also launched three of her own businesses. And she dedicated nearly 20 years in service to the protection and preservation of multi-generational wealth and business for future generations.
Of Colombian descent and fluent in Spanish, the release said, Ms. Williams spent four years pre-pandemic expanding her financial planning services to families in the majority of Latin American countries.
Passionate about her culture
Her love, pride and passion for culture fueled her to find ways to support her Latino community at home and abroad, Mercado said.
Since that vibrant, colorful outdoor market was launched in 2016, Mercado also 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.
“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,” Ms. Williams said.
Ms. Williams 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.
She is an avid global traveler and enjoys a variety of outdoor activities. Ms. Williams transitioned back to the Quad Cities in late 2023 after the sudden loss of her father. She is family oriented and, the release said, she loves being in the company of her many Midwestern cousins.
