Thriving aiding Erie small businesses
Adam Williams isn’t afraid of a little risk.
Consider his idea for a gag Monopoly spinoff called “Socialism: The Game,” where players don’t try to maximize profits but rather sell and rent property to achieve total fairness and equality.
As Williams quipped, “The game ends when everyone has the same amount of money.”
The game, which was launched as a parody in 2016 by Williams and a group of his staunch capitalist friends, gained some attention. It was featured on the Fox Business channel. But the joke didn’t land. The product fizzled. And Williams now swears there’s a warehouse in Erie full of 10,000 boxes of the game.
At 42, Williams doesn’t look back with regret.
The Erie businessman and lawyer sees value in risk ― and failure. It’s a mindset that feeds his penchant for daring hobbies, like hockey, car racing and flying. It’s also a mindset that guides him as an entrepreneur, a lifestyle that demands risk and the will to overcome setbacks.
“When I lose money on something, I consider that a deposit in the tuition account,” Williams said. “I have to learn something from it.”
And learn something he has.
In his most successful venture ― Rust Belt Business Law ― Williams, the risk taker, helps entrepreneurs overcome risks of their own.
What does Rust Belt Business Law do?
Established in 2010, the Williams-led firm helps small business owners start, grow and manage their organizations.
Whether it’s drafting contracts, getting trademarks, saving tax dollars or just dealing with litigation, the firm, located at 425 W. 10th St., guides entrepreneurs around the pitfalls of business, the ones that so often prevent them from breaking ground.
“If you’re going to work with someone, you want someone who has seen what can go wrong and has survived it,” Williams said. “People don’t want to take the chance of starting a business. Part of my mission is to try and change that.”
A ‘Rust Belt’ focus
For Williams, the value proposition is simple: The better his clients do, the better his firm does. And more importantly, the better Erie does.
Williams sees his role as not just a trusted advisor but as someone trying to reverse the so-called “brain drain” of Erie, referring to the exodus of young people who seek opportunities elsewhere.
To reverse that trend, Williams said Rust Belt Business Law focuses on small businesses, the places that generate the most jobs but likely can’t afford a team of lawyers.
As Williams put it, “It’s for the people that want to start a landscaping business but grow it beyond their truck and their lawnmower.”
David Hunter is a prime example.
In 2009, Hunter co-founded a two-person startup called Epic Web Studios, a company which, according to Hunter, had humble roots.
“We would find people and take one-off projects from Craigslist,” he said.
But the company has since evolved into a full-service web development, SEO and digital marketing agency, with a team of 15 full-time employees and more than 500 clients nationwide.
Hunter, the CEO of the company, at 901 French St., said Rust Belt Business Law was “there from the beginning.”
“They were absolutely instrumental,” Hunter said. “They filed all the paperwork with the state and the federal government to make sure we had all the documentation we needed. They were also helpful with getting the language right for our contracts with clients.”
Williams said he re-branded his firm as Rust Belt Business Law in 2021 ― it was formerly the Williams Law Office ― because he wanted to convey a message of reinvestment in a city and a region that once prospered.
“There’s plenty of people out there who have no idea what the ‘Rust Belt’ is,” Williams said. “But the people who know it, they get it. They understand what we’re about. We’re not Silicon Valley. We’re not Miami. We’re not New York City. We got a different approach to this stuff.”
A 15-year milestone of growth
The message has resonated.
In the past 15 years, Williams, who started his firm with just himself and his wife, Jackie, has overseen considerable growth. Not only does the firm boast close to 20 employees and clients from 41 states, but it’s been repeatedly named one of the fastest-growing law firms by Law Firm 500 and one of the fastest-growing privately-owned companies in the Northeast by Inc. Magazine.
“That was cool because ― no offense to lawyers ― they’re not the most entrepreneurial group,” Williams said with a smile.
Williams said the COVID-19 pandemic and the migration to digital connections inspired him to broaden the firm’s reach beyond Erie and Pennsylvania. Indeed, Williams said 80% of his clients are now out-of-state.
In 2023 and 2024, the firm raked in roughly $5 million in revenue.
“We have checks and wires and credit card payments coming in from across the country every day,” Williams said. “That’s money that we’re putting back into the community through jobs, spending, charity ― you name it.”
Williams said the success of the firm has led him to open another office in Pittsburgh. It’s also allowed his wife to start a sister company called Pennywise Tax Strategies, an accounting firm that’s housed at the same Erie address.
Williams said the goal for Pennywise is to ultimately help their clients save $100 million on taxes.
“If we can put that back in the hands of entrepreneurs across the country, we think that that impact will be huge,” Williams said. “That’s the next milestone.”
Williams said he’s optimistic the region will bounce back, saying Erie is “turning the corner ― it’s just a really slow turn.”
When asked what’s the secret to success, Williams added, “The secret is there is no secret. There are so many hurdles that an entrepreneur faces and the successful ones just keep stepping back up to the plate and swinging.”
A.J. Rao can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNRao.
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