About Us

Jim studied organic chemistry at Lehigh University, graduating with a Ph.D. in 1991.  He went on to work as research associate for The Research Foundation at SUNY Stony Brook, NY. 

After his stint at SUNY, he went to work as a Senior Scientist and Group Leader for a start-up biotech company, called Collaborative Laboratories.  Collaborative was developing new encapsulation technologies and sought partners in the pharmaceutical, personal care, and specialty chemical industries to co-develop new products based on those technologies.  His work culminated in two patents and generated over $1.5 M in revenue.

At the time, Jim had the opportunity to see first-hand the impact a software system can have on facilitating the product development process.  It was clear to him that breaking down departmental silos had a knock-on effect that benefited everyone.  Data generated in one laboratory became searchable and sharable with others that had the appropriate access, who could benefit from the information.  The opportunity he saw was exciting and compelling.  So he decided to transition his career from chemistry to Information Technology and Software Development. 

In 2000, he was hired by Formation Systems (now Infor) to work on Optiva, a software system designed by chemists for chemists in the process industries.  While at Formation Systems, Jim helped to design and develop many of the core modules in Optiva.  He also worked with joint development partners to design the Label Content Management, Ingredient Statement and Analysis modules, which are now used by many Food & Beverage companies.

Since founding Connexus Concepts, LLC, he has had the privilege of working with many terrific people, helping them design and develop PLM solutions for the Campbell Soup Company, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Target Corporation, Cargill Flavor Services in Amsterdam, Netherlands (now part of Kerry Ingredients), Takasago International Corporation (US), among many others.