Second career godsend for FAA retiree

After retirement, he moved from Oklahoma City to Claremore to be near his only child and first grandchild. But four years into working two acres of land, he had an epiphany.

“My wife and I were having coffee on the front porch and I asked, ‘You know what I see?'” Williams said. “She thought I was going to say, ‘a pond right there.' Instead, I said I saw myself at 85 still cutting down trees and moving huge rocks,” he said.

The couple soon afterward moved back to Oklahoma City where Williams, in the fall of 2001, formed ISG — which trains air traffic controllers and contracts weather observers for the FAA.

Over the past decade, the once two-employee, $50,000-in-annual revenues firm has grown to $13 million in sales and 190 mostly retired federal or military workers in 10 states. The Small Business Administration on Thursday named Williams, 63, Oklahoma's small business person of the year.

From his offices at 2224 NW 50, he recently sat down with The Oklahoman to talk about his personal and professional life. The following is an edited transcript:

Q: Can you tell us about your roots?

A: I grew up in northern Georgia in Dalton. The county population was about 15,000 then. My father was assistant fire chief and mother worked in the chenille factory, making towels and robes. I was the youngest of their four boys — all about four years apart. We lived on the north end of town, not in the country, but we had pasture and cows. There were lots of aunts and uncles and cousins around. From everybody's house, we could see our own.