Bio

Jim has over 30 years of experience in the beverage industry and is the retired COO and Executive VP of Brown-Forman, one of the world’s top ten wine and spirits companies headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to that he was the Executive VP of Sales and Marketing of Seagram Classics Wine company in New York and California. He is a former three-term Chairman of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), a national trade association based in Washington, D.C. that represents producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the US and around the world. He previously chaired The Century Council, an organization designed to fight underage drinking and drunk driving and currently serves on the board of MGP ingredients, a leading supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches. Additionally, Jim chairs the Advisory Board of the College of Business at San Jose State University and consults with two family owned wineries. Jim was a US Naval Flight Officer and has a BS from San Jose State University.