JEFF JACKSON
PRESIDENT & CEO, PGT INNOVATIONS, venice
Jackson’s company manufactures and supplies windows and doors built to withstand severe weather. The company employs around 3,500 nationwide at six manufacturing locations. It has grown both organically and through expansion, acquiring Tampa-based NewSouth Window Solutions and its retail outlets for $92 million in 2019. The company, among the state’s 100 biggest public companies, had $745 million in revenue in 2019. Among the company’s employee initiatives is Leading Ladies, a program to support its female employees and build leadership. “As a father to three daughters, I have a strong desire for women to be successful,” says Jackson, a CPA who joined the firm as COF and vice president in 2005.
| EDUCATION | University of West Georgia (BBA) |
| CIVIC EFFORT | I’m incredibly proud of the hurricane relief efforts our team has provided with Hurricanes Irma and Florence (2017), Michael (2018) and Dorian (2019). |
| FAVORITE PART OF LEADERSHIP | People development and finding ways to give back |
| SOMETHING SURPRISING | I actually don’t like having long hair. I prefer it short, but my wife likes it this way. A lot of people think I like it long, but I hate it. I do it for her. |
| ALTERNATE CAREER? | As a former police officer, I think I would have become an FBI agent so I could investigate important cases and catch the bad guys. |