June 12, 2022

Meet York County's Most Influential People for 2022: Business

Published by York Daily Record

As our world and everyday lives are reshaped by COVID and a new political climate, there is still one thing that remains constant: The number of people who work, often behind the scenes, to make our lives just a little bit better.

In 2022, we are emerging from the pandemic's shadow with fresh hope for the future, thanks to many of the people you will soon read about. The York Daily Record and its sister publication, The Evening Sun of Hanover, sought to highlight those who have a big impact in York County – from the entertainment world that is just returning after largely going dark in 2020, to activists that rallied to help their neighbors, to politicians and sports stars and business leaders.

You won't agree with every pick. That's to be expected. And we consciously made some unexpected choices to highlight emerging community leaders rather than household names.

For instance (and spoiler alert), Gov. Tom Wolf is not on our politics list – though he is obviously influential in local and state politics. This group is more about who had an impact on our lives rather than a simple popularity contest. These lists are in no way comprehensive – and we include honorable mentions in each category.

The goal here is to offer recognition of those working hard throughout our county and as a reminder of who to watch as 2022 progresses. We encourage debate and feedback!

Methodology: The entire York Daily Record and Evening Sun staff participated in this project. We created teams for each category, and team members crowd-sourced potential nominees, asking community members for their suggestions. We then undertook the daunting task of narrowing each list down to the top five, plus a list of honorable mentions.

Fred Walker

For Walker, doing good work doesn't just mean making money: he also works to make the community a better place with his volunteer work.

Fred Walker is many things: husband, father, friend, disabled veteran, former Howard University professor, businessman, and one of the first minorities to have ownership of the York Revolution.

He is also no stranger to hardship. The Philadelphia native was once homeless and spent his childhood with a drug-addicted mother and an absent father.

But he refused to let that define him.

“I came home one day and saw all of our furniture, clothes and toys in the front of the house, and I knew at that moment that I never wanted to be in that predicament ever again. I knew that education would be a big part of my success and could open more doors of opportunity,” Walker said. “All of the trauma I endured helped me focus on leaving Philadelphia and getting my high school diploma/college degree. I never looked back.”

Walker joined the Army in 1994 and served for 10 years. After he left, he spent time in Washington, D.C., but found the area to be expensive, so he moved north to York.

“I really believe faith brought me here to York. I came here and did not know anyone in 2004. Now, I am a part of the community like I lived here all of my life,” he said.

His first foray into business in York was working in entertainment for a label called Streetwork Entertainment. He helped artists with promotions, booking venues and handling other business-related needs.

At the same time, he ran a music store downtown and then decided to focus on real estate. Currently, he owns three businesses, including Gandy Realestate LLC, Four Squares Development and Four Squares Construction. He has also worked alongside the York County Economic Alliance to help reach small, minority-owned businesses that could benefit from their Bloom Grants and Business Entrepreneur classes.

For Walker, doing good work doesn't just mean making money: he also works to make the community a better place with his volunteer work.

“It's very important for people in the City of York to see successful Black business owners and entrepreneurs volunteer in their community. Our goal is to be visible and accessible to everyone in York city,” he said.

Walker is a member of several nonprofit organizations in York, including Better York, Rotary Club of York, Spanish American Multicultural-Resource Center and York Community Resource Center. He was also a member of The Movement, a resource for city residents, connecting people in need with solutions.

“People always ask me how it feels to be the first to do all the things I have done. My answer to that is, ‘I just do not want to be the last,’” Walker said.