Jim began his IT career 30 years ago as a programmer trainee for a mid-west insurance company and worked his way up into IT management while at GE Aircraft Engines where he supported jet engine manufacturing operations in the US, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden and Great Britain. In the early 80's he was involved in GE's initial attempts to leverage the India-based off-shore software development model, which was, at that time, in its infancy. In 1986 he joined Gradison & Company, a regional brokerage firm based in Cincinnati, to in-source IT functions and to build an IT organization. In 1992 he was recognize by Computerworld, Datamation and UnixWorld for his “the network is the computer” strategy that integrated proprietary and unix-based system using wireless ethernet networks and X-windows terminals to support Gradison's 200 stock brokers. Jim joined GE Capital Consumer Financial Services in 1994 to build a commercial software development organization tasked with constructing GE's corporate purchasing card and corporate travel card software applications. As CIO for Clopay Corporation, he downsized an under-performing and over budget IT organization through the strategic use of domestic and off-shore outsourcing while successfully completing over $30Mm in IT projects. Jim was honored by Computerworld magazine as one of the “Premier 100 IT Leaders of 2003” for his creative use of technology to execute business strategy. As CIO for The Hillman Group, Jim has elevated IT from a tactical service provider to a strategic business partner that provides competitive advantage. Jim was a nominee for the “2005 Intelligent Enterprise Award” sponsored by Intelligent Enterprise magazine. He was a finalist for the “2006 Innovator Award” sponsored by Application Development Trends magazine and he also received a “2007 ComputerWorld Honors Program Laureate” for Hillman's business intelligence applications. Jim has spoken internationally on the topic of business intelligence.