Residence: North Potomac
Age: 51
Family: Goddaughter, Shawnita Williams.
Profession⁄business: CEO and president, Global AHJ Group, Bethesda. The company specializes in helping small, minority- and veteran-owned businesses prepare certification packages for federal, state and local government contracts. The company also provides business consulting and coaches for clients, and wants to launch a business ‘‘reality show” hosted by celebrities that features average Americans who dream of owning their own businesses.
Latest news: Jackson recently won one of two grand prizes in the ‘‘Growing Pains” essay contest sponsored by The Regus Group and Entrepreneur magazine in which he received a fully furnished Regus office in Bethesda rent-free for a year. He was selected from about 200 entries. Jackson is using the office to meet with clients and recruit more professionals. Global AHJ has 12 consultants and billings last year reached some $700,000, which Jackson hopes to double this year.
Community service: Member of Montgomery County Taxi Cab Service Advisory Committee; acting national director of National Association of Small Local Business Enterprises; Fairmount Heights Town Council member from 1975 to 1986, first elected at age 18.
Hobbies: Film script-writing and performing in films as an extra. Among the films in which he has appeared is ‘‘The Pelican Brief,” starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.
Last movie seen: ‘‘The Great Debaters.”
Next vacation spot: Gaithersburg, which Jackson says has great lakes, clean parks, friendly people and excellent restaurants.
How did you get the idea to enter the Entrepreneur⁄Regus contest? ‘‘I have been a reader of Entrepreneur magazine since my college days. I never miss an issue, and many of my business clients read Entrepreneur. I saw the name of the contest in an ad, and it clicked since ‘Growing Pains’ in business language means ‘Global AHJ Group.’ Honestly, I didn’t think we’d win, even though we have won numerous awards for our success in helping small businesses into the lucrative government contracting industry.”
How do you keep employees happy? ‘‘We use Entrepreneur magazine as a business tool, and I treat my staff as important members of the team, sharing the rewards of success and always striving to do better.”
