Jeffory Blackard is an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

working primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. His developments include Adriatica, in which he intends to reproduce the look and feel of an old-world southern European village (most notably, an

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

coast

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n village) in Texas. He is the

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and founder of Blackard Companies.

Early life

Jeff Blackard was born in Peoria,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, to Richard and Janice Blackard. He was the state

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

champion for three years, running while in high school at Argenta-Oreana High School. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

on a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

scholarship before converting to a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

scholarship during his sophomore year. Blackard was later recognized as one of Northwestern's 100 most notable graduates.

Real estate

After graduating from Northwestern University in 1981, Blackard moved south to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and worked for Cambridge Companies. He eventually left to develop over 15,000 single homes through projects including Lakes on Legacy, Griffin Parc and Pirates Beach and Cove in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. In addition to an early focus on master-planned communities, Blackard also developed multi-family complexes, office parks, retail, restaurants and resorts totaling over $2 billion in asset creation. After buying an interest in properties on the coast of

, Blackard has focused much of his work on the evolution process of a village. Adriatica, a $350 million vertically integrated, mixed-use development, is located in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

and takes its inspiration from the Croatian fishing village of

Supetar Supetar () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town on the northern part of the Dalmatian island of Brač, in the Split-Dalmatia County, in Croatia. It became the island's official centre in 1827. The town of Supetar includes Supetar itself ...

on the island of

Brač Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. Adriatica in McKinney Texas

Since 2008, Blackard has undertaken new projects in villages like Entrada in

Westlake, Texas Westlake is a town in Denton and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in North Texas. The population is 1,623 as of the 2020 United States census. History The area known as Westlake was ...

, Barisi, the revitalization of North Beach in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, and Wolf Lakes in

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census, and according to 2024 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 101,344. It is no ...

Environmentalism

Blackard received an environmental commendation from the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

in association with the Delhide Cove Protection and Restoration Project that he undertook in the early 2000s. Blackard also donated an island north of Lafitte's Cove in Galveston, renamed The Robert M. "Bob" Moore Wildlife Sanctuary, to the Galveston Bay Foundation in 2007 for the conservation, protection and enhancement of the South Texas

Wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

. In 2017, Blackard founded a company named Zero Global Waste. The company is primarily active in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Political activism

Blackard is also an independent

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, who supported 2012 United States Presidential candidate

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...

in response to his Christian policy positions. Blackard worked to bring Santorum to his village in McKinney, Adriatica, shortly after

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...

in 2012 with Santorum leading in the polls. Santorum went on to become a business partner to Blackard in Zero Global Waste. In 2017, Blackard was awarded the Friend of Croatia Award from the Association of Croatian American Professionals. He has arranged meetings with high-level officials in American Politics, the

president of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the president of the Republic of Croatia (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the country and abroad. The president ...

and lobbying for a double taxation avoidance treaty.

Philanthropy

In the mid 1990s Blackard started the organization Amazon Outreach, a Christian charity that built a 90-foot river boat to provide medical services to underserved areas of the Amazon River Basin. Blackard has also traveled to over 50 countries with e3 Partners, a mission organization known for its "

I am Second I Am Second is a US multimedia movement and not-for-profit organization that is designed to inspire people to "put Jesus Christ first" in their lives. It was founded in 2008 by Norm Miller, the CEO and Chairman of the Interstate Battery System ...

" campaign, including

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. In 2023, Blackard became a board member of Amazi Water, an organization which provides sustainable access to clean water to communities in

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

Personal

Blackard resides East of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

on his ranch in

Sulphur Springs, Texas Sulphur Springs is a city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 15,941. Sulphur Springs is located in Northeast Texas. History Sulphur Springs

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackard, Jeff 1959 births Living people American businesspeople in real estate Businesspeople from Illinois People from Peoria, Illinois Businesspeople from Texas 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople