Ole Miss honors Steve Grantham for entrepreneurship and community leadership

The University of Mississippi honored Steve Grantham because his influence reaches far beyond restaurant sales. Through J&R Restaurant Group, the Outback Steakhouse franchisee for Mississippi and west Tennessee, Grantham has built an eight-restaurant operation that has also become a steady source of meals, mentoring and support for Oxford-area students and community groups.

Ole Miss presented Grantham with the Farrington Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Gillespie Business Model Competition awards ceremony on April 10. The School of Business Administration highlighted him not just as a business owner, but as a leader whose work connects the classroom to the local economy, from student mentoring to charitable giving and business development. The award recognizes entrepreneurship, community service and engagement with the school, three areas where Grantham has spent years making himself visible.

That footprint shows up in daily life across Lafayette County and the broader region. J&R Restaurant Group, founded by Grantham’s father in 1993 and led by Grantham since 2006, has provided more than 40,000 free meals to charities, community events, law enforcement and military organizations. In a county where restaurants are employers, meeting places and repeat customers’ routines, that kind of giving has economic meaning as well as civic value. It ties the company’s success to the people who work in its stores, eat in its dining rooms and depend on local businesses to stay invested in the community.

Grantham’s role at Ole Miss also helped explain why he was chosen now. He serves on the advisory board of the UM Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and works with the Serving the South Business Model Competition, the Legacy Leadership Program and family business initiatives. Those programs give students practical exposure to how businesses are built, tested and adjusted before they reach the market. Clay Dibrell, co-director of the center, said Grantham exemplifies leadership with purpose and has consistently stepped forward to support students and strengthen Mississippi businesses. Grantham has said the center is transformational because it gives students a place to test ideas and learn from failure before launching a company.

The company’s 2026 plans call for support of more than 50 charitable organizations and more than 85 community events, a reminder that Grantham’s business model is built on Oxford and Mississippi relationships as much as revenue. For Lafayette County, the honor signals what Ole Miss values now: entrepreneurs whose success is measured not only in locations and sales, but in how deeply they shape the community around them.