In 1999, Walker created Renaissance Man Food Services, which distributes chicken products. Originally his producer was
Sysco Corp. following a casual conversation with a Sysco vice-president who asked him to provide some chicken-breading recipes from his mother.
[91][92] He founded Savannah-based H. Walker Enterprises in 2002 as an
umbrella company for most of his other business ventures, the largest of which was Renaissance Man Food Services.
[93]
Walker has a history of exaggerating the number of people employed by his companies and the assets held by his companies, and the failure of several business enterprises led to creditors bringing lawsuits.
[93] Walker touted Renaissance Man Food Services as a "mini-
Tyson Foods"
[93] and repeatedly claimed that the company had more than 100 employees, achieved $70 million in annual sales, owned chicken processing plants, and was one of the largest minority-owned meat processors in the nation.
[93][92][91] In subsequent deposition testimony in a lawsuit, however, Walker gave far lower figures, saying that his company averaged about $1.5 million in annual profits from 2008 and 2017.
[94] In the same case, a business associate of Walker testified that, contrary to Walker's claim, his company does not own chicken processing plants; rather, Walker
licensed his name to the enterprise.
[94] In a 2018 declaration submitted in a legal case against his company, Walker acknowledged that the company did not own any chicken processing plants, and instead partnered with plant owners to sell branded chicken products.
[93] In April 2020, the company applied for
Paycheck Protection Program loan due to the
economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;
[95] in its PPP application, the company reported that it had just eight employees,
[93][94] and the company ultimately received two PPP loans totaling $180,000, of which $111,300 was
forgiven.
[93]
Walker repeatedly lied that he started and owned a drapery company, which he purported in February 2022 to have 250 employees, but Walker was never directly involved in Renaissance Manufacturing, which dissolved in 2021.
[96] Walker lied in multiple instances that Renaissance Man Foods was the largest minority-owned food business in the U.S., but it is much smaller in reality.
[96]