McMAKEOVER
Mendon Road McDonald’s cuts ribbon after renovations
CUMBERLAND – There is a new look to the McDonald’s Restaurant at 1754 Mendon Road and one you will be seeing more of, according to its owner, Joe Napoli, as McDonald’s updates its 14,000 restaurants nationwide with the new design and related service improvements.
Napoli’s company, Napoli Management of Rockland, Mass., owns 18 McDonald’s franchises in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and will also be bringing the new look to its 100 Mendon Road outlet as well in the coming months.
The completion of the 1754 Mendon Road update was marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning that drew Mayor William Murray, Police Chief John Desmarais, and Town Councilman E. Craig Dwyer as town representatives.
The renovations included a complete redesign of the exterior of the building and updates for the drive-thru and interior of the restaurant.
The restaurant now has an ordering kiosk inside the lobby that customers can go to directly and also table service after an order is placed. The main ordering counter is still
available but customers can also use their mobile phones to contact the business and place an order.
“This is part of a program where McDonald’s is modernizing its restaurants throughout the entire country,” Napoli said while addressing a gathering of employees, friends and local officials in the restaurant’s dining area.
The day was also an opportunity for Napoli to highlight his company’s success in providing college grants to its employees and do outreach work with high schools. The company sponsors motivational talks for students on making the right decisions in avoiding substance abuse and related dangerous behaviors as part of that work.
Under the college grant program, McDonald’s provides its full- and part-time employees $1,000-a-year in financial support for college and Napoli’s company boosts those awards by another $500-a-year for those who qualify.
As a result, Napoli’s 18 restaurants have submitted 42 applications to the program this year for a total of $56,700 in grant requests and are “on target” to finish the year with approximately 60 finalized grants worth a total of $80,000.
For students receiving the support over 4 years, that would represent a total of $320,000, he noted.
“I don’t know any other food service industry company that does this kind of support for their employees,” Napoli noted.
Also in attendance on Wednesday were three of Napoli’s local employees, Anne Wilcox, studying social work at Rhode Island College, Issecheliz Maldonado, another RIC student studying Medical Imaging and psychology, and Emily Santilla, who is working toward a degree in Phlebotomy.
Wilcox has made use of the grant program for the past two years and noted it has been a big help to her. “If it wasn’t for this grant, I wouldn’t be graduating in May,” she said.
Mayor Murray thanked Napoli for “investing in our great town,” and also noted that the business was providing valued help to local students.
“He has actually invested in Cumberland twice and has two stores,” Murray said of Napoli. The new look to the 1754 Mendon Road restaurant showed how much of an investment had been made, and would certainly make the businesses’ customers “proud when they see it,” he said.
Murray also commended Napoli for his company’s work with high school students. “He is interested in helping youth in an unbelievable way and it fits into our plans for how we want to help the youth here in Cumberland,” Murray said.
In addition to the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, Napoli invited some of the participants in the student outreach program, such Herb Ramey, a recovery counselor, Richard Sproules, a motivational speaker, and Susan Silva, of EB Hope, to explain their work from the podium.
WPRO Radio also set up a promotional booth in the parking lot to help note the changes underway at McDonalds.