Jim is a native of Western Washington, attended public schools and community college in
the Kitsap County area before joining the U.S. Air Force. He completed his undergraduate
and graduate studies at the University of Arizona where he studied engineering and
business administration with an emphasis in accounting.
During his academic career, he
developed software for several commercial applications and taught software development
courses. He obtained a C.P.A. certificate and taught C.P.A. review courses while in
Arizona. He is licensed to practice public accounting in Arizona, Idaho and Washington
Jim practiced accounting in Arizona for ten years before moving to Spokane, Washington
to join the firm of Batty and Forsgren in 1980. He became a principal in the firm in 1981. He
has served on a number of technical committees of the state society in Arizona and
Washington, including financial accounting standards, auditing standards, financial reporting standards and
management advisory services which he chaired for three years.
He has also been active in a number of
community, civic and business organizations including Momentum '87, the Associated Builders and Contractors
and the Chamber of Commerce where he chaired the Taxation Committee.
More recently, he has obtained the designation C.V.A. (Certified Valuation Analyst), which is a professional
designation in the business valuation field. His professional focus is in the areas of financial planning for
businesses and their owners, business valuations, and consulting in the areas of mergers, acquisitions, sales and
divestitures of businesses and business segments.
