Jim is an Aerospace and Defence executive that has enjoyed a long career split between the public and private sectors. Jim spent the first half of his career as an aircrew on fixed and rotary wing aircraft in the Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF), conducting overwater surveillance missions during the Cold War.

Retiring from the RCAF in 2000, Jim attended Royal Roads University to complete a Master’s of Business Administration. He joined Pratt and Whitney Canada as the Account Manager for Beechcraft in Wichita, KS and Piago Aircraft of Genoa, Italy. In 2003, he joined Honeywell’s Aerospace Division as the Director of Canadian Programs and, in 2005, became the Vice President of Government Relations and Business Development. In 2009, Jim returned to his home province of Newfoundland to become the Director of Business Strategy for the Government of Newfoundland’s Department of Business.

In 2013, Jim founded The Colonial Group, a consulting firm offering support on international business development. In 2016, he became the Provincial Director of the newly formed Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Défense Association until 2018.

Jim served as the Chair of the Association for Unmanned Vehicles International Canada and as a board member for the Aerospace Industry Association of Canada and the Aerospace and Defence Industry Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. Jim is heavily involved in recreational boating in Newfoundland.

Retired, Jim and his wife spend the majority of the year living aboard their boat, enjoying the southern latitudes, and doing boat repairs in exotic places.