Medina native to open Upstate’s first Chick-fil-A next week near Syracuse
Jimmer Szatkowski
CICERO – A Medina native has left a corporate career to open Upstate’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant.
Jimmer Szatkowski plans to open the Chick-fil-A next week in Cicero near Syracuse. The restaurant is scheduled to open on Feb. 22.
Szatkowski worked 20 years with IBM as a supply chain executive. He decided to make a career change and left Raleigh, NC and returned to upstate to work on opening the Chick-fil-A.
Szatkowski told the Syracuse Post Standard he was drawn to Chick-fil-A’s focus on community service.
He applied to become a franchise owner and was picked last June. Szatkowski said Chick-fil-A covers much of the start-up costs, making it more attainable for a franchise owner to open a new restaurant.
When a Chick-fil-A opens a new restaurant, it usually rewards first 100 customers with a free meal every week for a year. Szatowski instead will offer a free meal each week for the first 100 people who register to perform a day of service in the community with him and his family.
