The three men who make up the Jackson Investment Company (JIC) in the District are more than business partners -- they are family. Clarence Jackson Jr., 66, and his two sons, D.C. police officer Clarence “CJ” Jackson III, 45, and former Detroit Lions defensive tackle Tyoka “Ty” Jackson, 37, own the company which has blossomed from humble beginnings to a multi-million dollar establishment that has ignited change in the part of Washington, DC known as East of the River.

Watching the three interact, it’s easy to see that the Jackson’s business savvy is made up of the perfect equation of the dreamer, the cautious evaluator and the decision-maker.

“CJ sees the forest, Ty sees the trees and I am the one that sees if whatever we come up with is really going to work,” says Clarence, who is a retired Army Sergeant who also worked at the DC Public Library for over 30 years as a System Supervisor. He supervises property management operations from JIC headquarters in Southeast.

But whatever the formula, it seems to be working. For 14 years this family of entrepreneurs has been making investments in areas of the District that have been traditionally ignored by mainstream investors. Their portfolio balances a unique blend of business and community investments. Today, those investments have paid off and the company that started with just a $5000 investment in 1995 now has more than $5 million in assets, including the first International House of Pancakes (IHOP) in DC.

The IHOP was a new and “exciting phase of growth” for JIC. Completed in July 2008, the IHOP, which is located in The Shops at Park Village at 1523 Alabama Ave. SE, is the only sit-down restaurant franchise in Southeast. A free-standing building with a dining capacity of 184 people, it is the first of three IHOPs that the family will be developing and operating in Washington, DC over the next four years as part of a Multi-Store Development Agreement struck with IHOP Corporation. The Jackson family is one of only five black-owned IHOP franchise owners.

“Although the economy is bad, we thought this IHOP was needed in this area to support our people,” says CJ. “The neighborhood response was fantastic. They really support us.”

“We constantly have people coming in telling us how pleased they are that we are here,” said Clarence. “Marion Barry asked me ‘Where do you think all of these people were going before this IHOP was built?’ Either they did take out or they ate in restaurants in Maryland or Virginia.”

The family says that being the only kid on the block does not mean that they take their customers for granted. They say they have hired really good management with strong ties to the community.

“Customers are coming because they see that we care,” says CJ. “Two of our managers literally live two blocks from our store and 80 percent of the employees are District residents.”

“I think this means that in America, even with all of its faults and ills and problems, opportunities abound,” said Ty, who played defensive end and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons playing for the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions respectively. Now retired from the NFL, he handles all aspects of JIC's operations and those of its affiliates.

“All you have to do is open your eyes and your mind to it,” Ty continues. “If you take advantage of all of the opportunities out there, anyone can grow from the smallest of smallest to the biggest of the big. Not that we are there yet but we are well on our way.”

And it seems that this family knows how to take its own advice. JIC started off slowly by purchasing small apartment buildings in traditionally underserved areas of the District, and conducting a comprehensive rehabilitation project to put them in excellent rental condition.

Then in 1997, JIC acquired a 12-unit building on Yuma Street, SE and just a few years later bought two more buildings totaling 24 total units on Atlantic Street which they renamed Juanita Gardens. This property needed the most extensive rehabilitation of all, requiring that it be partially gutted. Today, Juanita Gardens is now the flagship of the company and a model for apartment living in the area.

“You have to make a plan and work your plan,” added CJ, who is a Master Patrol Officer with the Metropolitan Police Department’s 7th District in DC. He has been a D.C. police officer in SE Washington for over 20 years and, in addition, oversees all construction and development projects for JIC and its affiliates.

The family attributes their successful and steady growth to planning, a “tremendous” amount of hard work and not being afraid to take risk or fail.

“A lot of people have great ideas, but are unwilling to take the risk,” says Ty, who graduated from Penn State University in 1994 with a B.A. in Labor and Industrial Relations with a minor in Business Administration. “They sit on their ideas and let them flow to the next person, who takes up their idea and makes it work. It takes a tremendous amount of drive and ‘want-to’ and we want to. But we also believe you can have a good strong profitable business model that also has a positive impact on this community.”

Giving back to the community has also been a part of the Jacksons’ life. While with the NFL in Tampa Bay, Ty formed Tyoka’s Troops in conjunction with the American Red Cross to raise awareness of the shortage of blood stored in the country. Later, he expanded it to include raising awareness for organ donation, bone marrow and stem cells. He also served as spokesman for the Prostate Cancer Education Council’s “Tackle Prostate Cancer” campaign for over six years to help educate men on the importance of prostate cancer screening and early detection. His other charitable activities include: Get Into the Game, the Rams Reader Team, Bowl-a-RAM-a, the Make a Wish Foundation’s Celebrity Server dinner and the Stella Maris Child Center.

“My NFL career is really only temporary, I’m a human being as long as I’m alive. Helping out my fellow human beings is what life is all about,” Ty has been quoted as saying. He was nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

The family continues the tradition by donating time and money to local charities in the District. One program that they are particularly proud of is the work they do with the Malcolm X Elementary School just blocks away from the IHOP.

“We have an academic achievement program where we give gift cards to kids with perfect attendance for a grading quarter or marked improvements in their grades,” says Ty. “I think it important to recognize the best that we have and those who are trying… If you give a little tender loving care to some kids who need it they can blossom into flowers right in the community where people thought otherwise.”

The family also has a “Church of the Week” program, which allows a church to come to IHOP and have a 20 percent discount for one week during which children eat free Monday thru Friday.

“We know it’s tough, so we do our little part,” says Ty.

The family also provides affordable housing to the community and is partnering with Housing and Urban Development, William C. Smith and Company and The Union Temple Community Development Corporation to serve as co-developer on The Sheridan Terrace Project. According to the Washington Post, this will include $87.7 million in public and private funds to develop the 9.8-acre Sheridan site -- bounded by Suitland Parkway and the District-Maryland line -- with 180 townhouses, 16 "manor homes" with four units per house and 100 apartments for seniors and families. A groundbreaking is expected in a year, and construction should be completed by 2011, officials said Ty, his wife, Ique, their daughter, Talia, 13 and son, Ty, Jr., 2, live in Tampa Bay, Florida. CJ is a single father of one son and the guardian of another son and lives in the District in Ward 7, while their dad, Clarence, lives in District Heights, Md.

For more information about the Jackson Investment Company, go to www.jacksoninvestmentdc.com.