We were approached about interviewing Wright at the start of February, Black History Month, in light of this woman and her late husband Don establishing themselves as the first Black owners of a McDonald’s in New England. Now many people of color operate McDonald’s restaurants and even have a national organization through which they network and support one another, and which Wright has been active with as president of a local chapter.
In prepping for my interview with Wright, I found that her family’s business has been written up numerous times over the years, typically to celebrate their latest 10-year milestone (2004 in MetroWest Daily News and 2015 on Boston.com, for example)
The Wrights became McDonald’s owners in the 1980s after very different careers—Don worked for a government agency that oversaw volunteer organizations and Paula worked for IBM. But they were interested in running their own business, and one thing that attracted them to McDonald’s that they would be required to be 100% involved in it in order to operate it.
Their original eateries were in downtown Boston, but then they shifted to the ‘burbs, and found their real success. The Wrights’ son, Don, Jr., worked at the family business as a young man and later became owner of his own McDonald’s after going through the company’s second generation program. After his father passed, Don Jr., merged his business into the family organization, which now has some 700 employees.
The Wrights’ Natick restaurant, on the Mass Pike, complements their McDonald’s across the highway in Framingham.
“We do have regulars on both sides,” Wright says, in you wonder.
The Natick restaurant isn’t necessarily a destination for Natick residents, but rather those commuting up and down the Pike. Some employees do hail from Natick, though. The restaurant at that spot was built in 2002, and hasn’t changed a whole lot other than typical updates. The biggest change is that Registry of Motor Vehicles used to have a location attached to the same building.
The Wrights’ restaurants typically are very involved in their communities, though the Pike locations are somewhat exceptions since they are… on the Pike.
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Wright is proud of the affiliation her family and her McDonald’s family has had with Ronald McDonald House Charities over the years. She served as a regional board president for 11 years (“now there are term limits…) and remains a director at the New England organization.
As Wright explains, the charity provides no-cost housing for families so that they can be near their kids when they’re undergoing medical treatment. Locally such accommodations are available near Boston- and Providence-area hospitals. Volunteers, including many who work at McDonald’s—prep meals. Customers contribute by making donations at restaurants or by purchasing Happy Meals, which include a built-in donation.
