Young Entrepreneur Cameron Jackson of Millennial Park Establishes Wealth in His Community
Cameron Jackson. (Picture by Lara Harrison )
A generational growth is making its mark in the heart of Baton Rouge.
25-year-old business owner, Cameron Jackson of the shipping containers food court: Millennial Park, grew up with a strong foundation. Clarence ‘CJ’ Jackson, Jackson’s grandfather, owned and ran a barbershop on Florida Blvd. in Baton Rouge. A respected man in the community, CJ owned multiple businesses on the block. It is where Jackson learned about having a company that helped the community.
Jackson’s parents also taught him about generational wealth. His mother Katina Jackson is Vice President of an hospital, and on the side she buys houses and rents them out. She’s also purchased rental properties under Jackson and his siblings’ names, so when they turned 18, they could have money to secure their futures. Jackson said, thankfully, “My mother is the one who taught me about real estate, equity, and investing.”
When he was in the third grade, Jackson’s parents moved the family to Houston for better job opportunities. But Jackson never forgot his hometown. Traveling back to the state every summer, Baton Rouge was always in the future entrepreneur’s heart.
“I believe my purpose is giving back to the community,” Jackson said.
After graduating from high school in Texas, Jackson went to Liberty University in Virginia for two years and then transferred to Coastal Carolina University. There he played Safety on the school’s football team. His mother even helped him in the real estate business, advising him on properties and land to build. He had everything going for himself: great friends, majoring in Business Management, living on the beach, a future in playing for the NFL, but the Louisiana native didn’t feel whole. He remembered, “How am I going to be successful at playing football? How can I change people’s lives?”
His answer came in a full circle on a trip to Jamaica.
Jive Turkey shipping container restaurant at Millennial Park. (Picture by Lara Harrison)
Jackson went to the island to see a different culture and to feel inspired. He witnessed people working three to four jobs and pondered, “What is life really about?” For him, it was about helping people. He discovered on his journey, “Opening a business and helping the community is my purpose.” But the real question of how was massive on his mind.
On the way to see the waterfalls, Jackson and his mother drove up hills and saw shipping containers lined on the roads. They were cut open and had a grill in them. “I was like that’s so weird,” Jackson recalled. “But then I was like, that’s so cool that a third world country is using shipping containers as a business.” When he returned to the U.S., he saw that it was a legit thing. His father showed him pictures of them in cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and then Jackson thought, “I could do this.”
Returning to school, Jackson was finishing up his last semester at the university. He told his father that he needed to pay $13,000 for the last two classes in order to graduate. His father pointed out, “$13,000 sounds like the price for a shipping container.” Jackson knew at that moment what he had to do. Jackson took that leap of faith and moved to Baton Rouge to go to his calling.
Remembering his childhood in Baton Rouge and the liveliness of the city, plus the way communities helped one another, Jackson wanted to bring the city back to “the good ol’ days.”
“To see how it is today and how people talk down about the area, saying how this is the hood, and no one wanted to come out there,” he reflected. “They didn’t see the greater thing or what the purpose was.”
And so, blessed with the land that his grandfather CJ gifted to him, Jackson opened Millennial Park.
Every dollar that he makes from Millennial Park is given to the community or goes towards expanding the park.
“I wanted to bring things to Louisiana that it didn’t have. I wanted to open jobs in communities that don’t have them. Especially in this community, where people don’t get a lot of chances to have a business of their own,” Jackson said.
Guests enjoying the food provided at the shipping container restaurants at Millennial Park. (Picture by Cameron Jackson)
Jackson wants to encourage the young in the community. He recently partnered with Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) to launch a free library in Millennial Park. Jackson will also spend Saturdays teaching kids about entrepreneurship, along with inviting different business owners to come in to speak with the youth.
Currently, Millennial Park has three containers open: Royal Taste of Jamaica, Memphis Mack BBQ and Jive Turkey. He plans to have a total of 12 containers in the park stacked on top of each other to create a second level of shipping containers.
Jackson also has purchased land around the corner from Millennial Park, where he plans to bring local produce into the area. Jackson wanted to bring healthy options to the community, especially to the kids, since his business is in a food desert in Midtown.
“You can’t get fresh fruit, fresh vegetables in this area,” Jackson said. “These are key things for kids to develop. They can’t get these things. If they’re not getting it from a store that’s from around here, then they aren’t getting it. Opening up a produce stand right here on North and North Acadian Street will be beneficial.”
Today, Jackson sees himself as a younger version of his 84-year-old grandfather. Owning multiple businesses and being a stable figure in the community. His family is inspired by the young entrepreneur’s business. His cousin, Chance Jackson, helps out around Millennial Park, where he’s happy to serve the community and to be led by a great role model.
“I really believe in this. I love the atmosphere that’s around here. Bringing people together in a place where they feel safe, it’s a great environment,” said Chance. Opening the business during the Juneteenth holiday really made a staple in the community, Chance commented.
For more information on Millennial Park or to catch up with the work Jackson is doing in the Baton rouge community, check out his social media page.