By Rich Sanders
David Costa, a Christian Capitalist and entrepreneur, brings joy to thousands of people every day through one of the most popular restaurants in the world: McDonald’s! With 30,000 restaurants around the globe, Costa Enterprises owns and operates twenty-one of them all over Northwest Florida.
David’s father began working on the idea of owning and operating a McDonald’s while he was still on active duty as an Air Force officer and stationed at Eglin AFB. For nearly 30 years, David and his family have been dedicated to making the McDonald’s experience a magical one for all their customers.
David’s entrepreneurial spirit developed from an early age. When he was in middle school, he started a business that sold a hot commodity like the famous French Fries his restaurants now serve every day: candy!
As a man of deep faith, David now leads an organization of over 1,000 employees that cares about its community and is dedicated to giving back. The charitable arm of the organization, Costa Cares, has a mission to provide outstanding community service through various fundraising efforts, such as supporting local schools, partnering with churches, working with international and national charities, and offering any help or services that a community may need.
For example, over the past four years, Costa Cares has served breakfast to over 1,100 local student athletes and coaches at the All Sports Association’s Annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Breakfast hosted at Northwest Florida State College.
“McCafé with a Cause” fits in line perfectly with the Christian Capitalist motto: “the more we make, the more we give!” For every McCafé coffee purchased on Mondays throughout the year, Costa donates 50 percent of their coffee proceeds to a different local charity each month.
Recently, Costa also donated $100,000 to create a playroom in the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, offering children and families a place to unwind, relax, play, and have fun while their siblings or family members are being cared for in the hospital.
David and his wife, MJ, are preparing to open a landmark facility on the Emerald Coast this month. The Costa Union Club in Niceville will include MJ’s signature coffee shop, a podcast studio, meetings rooms and networking events. It is built on a simple idea: people don’t need more information, they need the right space!
David plans to publish a book called Good to Golden later this year that will explore the leadership lessons that he has learned over the years with the goal of inspiring his managers to get “un-stuck” and all business professionals to do their best at work and in their personal lives.
David recently appeared on the Christian Capitalist podcast (recorded at the Union Club studio!), and you can listen to the entire episode on SOWAL Life’s website. We are excited to share inspirational stories of hard work and generous giving to the poor and needy in the name of Jesus Christ, like David Costa!
Rich Sanders is a pastor, small business owner, retired healthcare attorney and adjunct professor at Emory University, and former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, He and his wife, Rebekah, met at church in 1996, have been blessed with three children (James, William and Caroline) and live in Destin with their large golden retriever, Cowboy.
