Since joining the company in 1985, Jim has focused the firm on developing a number of niche businesses, heading each with industry experts. He has also been responsible for the closing of 15 acquisitions. Through his efforts, TemPositions is now one of the true full service regional staffing companies in the market today.
In 2004, Jim was honored by his peers by being elected Chairman of the American Staffing Association (ASA), the industry's national trade association. Prior, he served as Chair of the National Chapter Leadership Council and served for five years as President of the New York Staffing Association (NYSA) where he was a recipient of the NYSA's New Yorker Award, for outstanding service to the industry. Subsequently he served two years as Chairman of the ASA Industry Practices Committee and is now Chairman of the ASA Legal/Legislative Committee.
A noted speaker on staffing issues, Jim is often called upon to comment on labor matters by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, Forbes, Crain’s New York business and other periodicals. He has appeared on CNBC, CBS' 60 Minutes and NY1. In recognition of his leadership role in the health care staffing industry, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) appointed him to its Task Force to create standards for a new health care staffing certification program. Additionally, Jim was included Staffing Industry Review Magazine’s “Who’s Who in Staffing” list of the 100 most influential leaders in the staffing industry.
Jim recently finished 17 years on the board of the Metro Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), where he headed their Community Participation Program, and serves on the board of the Eastern Region Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. A strong believer in public education, he served three terms each as president of the Hunter College Elementary and High School PTAs, during the period when his daughter attended the schools. At Hunter, he has been credited for introducing leading edge technology into the schools, including personal computers in all elementary classrooms, laptops for all the teachers and smartboards in every high school classroom. He also spearheaded the effort to renovate the entire facility, including all classrooms, the cafeteria, the schoolyard, the gym and most recently the auditorium. For "creating opportunities that contribute to the growth and development of young people,” he was presented with the Corporate Leadership Award by New York Youth at Risk.
With his wife he has established the James A. and Nina Zakin Essey Fund at the New York Community Trust to assist needy organizations throughout the country.
Prior to joining TemPositions, Jim served in various product management and new business development positions with Clairol, Inc.
He holds a BA from Trinity College (Hartford, CT), a General Course degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBA from Harvard University.