Gregory Jackson: A Man for All Seasons
T he Kappa Detroit Foundation Development Center, our new home, is the cornerstone of Detroit Alumni Chapter for the next 100 years of achievement. Our current leadership of Polemarch Charles Hicks, Vice Polemarch Glenn Moore, and a progressive Board of Directors stand on the shoulders of past leadership fortifying the commit- ment of brotherhood. When the Kappa Detroit Foundation Development Center needed funding, Brother Marlin Parks, Capital Campaign Chairman for the Foundation Center, en- listed several men with the skills to make the campaign a success. Brother Gregory Jackson was at the top of Brother Parks' list. Brother Gregory Jackson is a 1977 initiate of the Beta Delta Chapter, Morris Brown College. A native Detroi- ter and a Life Member since 1988, Jackson has been financial since his initiation. He earned his B.S. in Ac- counting from Morris Brown College and M.S. degree in Finance and Marketing from Atlanta University in 1981. He is married with two children. He began his professional career as an accountant for Arthur Anderson & Company. He left in 1984 and was hired as a controller for Stroh’s Brewery, the young- est individual in company history to hold this position. While at Stroh’s, he launched the Kastellton Company, a gourmet cookie venture. He was one of the first African Americans to have a concession selling cookies at De- troit Metro Airport. In 1988, he entered the General Motors Minority Training Leadership Academy. He completed the pro- gram and was armed with the skills to seek a new entre- preneurial challenge within the automobile industry. He launched the Prestige Automotive Group and purchased his first dealership, Prestige Pontiac-Oldsmobile, in 1993 in Mt. Morris, Michigan. His hard work and dedication to quality service allowed him to purchase 18 dealerships over the years. He was the first minority dealership to earn a billion dollars in sales. Under his leadership the company grossed $1.67 billion in sales in 2005. He has been recognized by Black Enterprise magazine for his continued success and for achieving a billion dollars in sales over 10 years that highlights his accomplishment as the Number One African American Dealer for sales. Selling the majority of his dealerships, he continues to own four including Mercedes-Benz of St. Clair Shores, MI; Toyota of Warren, MI; Courtesy Ford of Okemos, MI; and Prestige Cadillac, Warren, MI. Expanding his business portfolio into real estate, Brother Jackson owns multiple properties in Downtown Detroit. The crown jewel is the luxury high-rise Lafay- ette East Towers. The Copper Ridge Golf Course in
By Dr. Robert Thomas and Harrison Reed Duke III
80 | SUMMER 2020 ♦ THE JOURNAL
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