Professional Bio
Founder of Navigator Consulting, Jim has extensive experience working with European firms, but his clients have included Chinese & Japanese companies as well. The eighteen projects that Navigator Consulting located since 2014 announced 3,600 jobs & $2.1 billion in capital investment.
During his 25-year career at GDEcD, Jim worked with over 175 companies whose U.S. subsidiaries currently employ more than 20,000. These include global names like Porsche (Germany), UCB (Belgium), Randstad (Netherlands) and Saint Gobain (France), and mid-sized companies like ATEX (Italy), Balta (Belgium), Glock (Austria), Hansgrohe (Germany), JCB (UK), Terma (Denmark) & WIKA (Germany).
Jim began his career at GDEcD in 1987 in the state’s European Office in Brussels. He also served as Chairman of the Council of American States in Europe, and he was a regular presenter at prestigious U.S. investment conferences organized across Europe, for example, by “Capital” magazine (Germany), KBC Bank (Belgium), the German Chambers of Commerce (Germany), the Paris Chamber (France), the Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom) and Confindustia (Italy). Before working with the State of Georgia, Mr. Blair was a Vice President at Bank of America in Atlanta.
Jim's Navigator Consulting firm specializes in FDI and he has a Japanese-speaking site consultant based in Jackson MS and a German-speaking consultant in his Dusseldorf office in Germany. Jim speaks German, French and a bit of Dutch.
During his 25-year career at GDEcD, Jim worked with over 175 companies whose U.S. subsidiaries currently employ more than 20,000. These include global names like Porsche (Germany), UCB (Belgium), Randstad (Netherlands) and Saint Gobain (France), and mid-sized companies like ATEX (Italy), Balta (Belgium), Glock (Austria), Hansgrohe (Germany), JCB (UK), Terma (Denmark) & WIKA (Germany).
Jim began his career at GDEcD in 1987 in the state’s European Office in Brussels. He also served as Chairman of the Council of American States in Europe, and he was a regular presenter at prestigious U.S. investment conferences organized across Europe, for example, by “Capital” magazine (Germany), KBC Bank (Belgium), the German Chambers of Commerce (Germany), the Paris Chamber (France), the Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom) and Confindustia (Italy). Before working with the State of Georgia, Mr. Blair was a Vice President at Bank of America in Atlanta.
Jim's Navigator Consulting firm specializes in FDI and he has a Japanese-speaking site consultant based in Jackson MS and a German-speaking consultant in his Dusseldorf office in Germany. Jim speaks German, French and a bit of Dutch.
Company/Organization
Navigator Consulting, LLC
Atlanta, GA 30345
United States
Organizational
Education:
University of South Carolina 1976
B.A.
University of South Carolina 1983
MBA International Business
Awards:
2012 Officer National Order of Merit, French Gov't
2018, 2019 & 2020 Site Selection Expert, Swiss Global Enterprise
Volunteer Work:
Habitat for Humanity
Emory University German Language Studies
Board Member, Belgian American Chamber of the South
Board Member, Transatlantic Business & Investment Council
Areas of Expertise
Community Development, Industrial Development, International Economic Development, Leadership Development