James Blase Email & Phone Number

Winnipeg, Mb, Ca

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I help businesses tackle operational challenges, from managing growth to implementing systems and processes. Recently supported a growing professional services firm in a Director of Operations role. Some of my work:• Oversight of all projects in busy marketing agency. Managed timelines and budgets, improving on-time delivery and reducing write-offs. Increased capacity over 15% without adding staff.• Responsible for forecasting and capacity management for a busy firm, ensuring that shortages of staff or work are addressed before they become an issue. Reduced write-offs by over 40% and increased profits by over 10%. • Led the development of firm’s strategic plan, following up with senior team members on progress and allocated resources to ensure key goals were achieved.• Mapped and optimized complex processes through consultations with senior staff. Worked with team to improve performance by addressing issues identified in process. • Negotiated on behalf of clients for outstanding receivables, securing over $50,000 of old debts and winning new orders.• Supported owner in tackling critical issues, with a particular focus on leading the development of firm’s strategic plan and regular follow-up with senior team members to check progress.• Mapped sales journey and developed performance metrics for sales team, which led to improved performance measurement and reliable production forecasting.

Winnipeg, Mb

Directed overall operations and P&L management for a $10m food processor, scaling company operations to enter international markets. Established performance indicators, strategic goals, accountability, productivity improvements, and cost reduction programs that improved output, quality and on-time delivery. Led negotiation on key agreements with multi-national distributors. • Transformed company through org chart redesign, implementing KPIs and consistent feedback. Training focused on building effective leaders and providing guidance to the team so they could make rapid decisions in the moment. Staff retention was over 80%, above industry average.• Increased productivity 75% through improved production planning, shift optimization, reducing set-up/tear down time, and Lean principles. • Improved on-time-delivery to 100% from 60% by reallocating production processes and shrunk typical client payment loop from 1.5 days to 2 hours.• Reduced use of third party staffing from $1m by over 90% through production forecasting, improved distributor communication and efficiency gains. • Identified and targeted key markets to grow the business. Resulted in overwhelming response, including several major retailers which led to successful negotiations with a large distributor. • Won $600,000 in non-repayable grants to support growth costs for company expansion.• Improved margins by 5% and improved EBIDTA while adding headcount

Winnipeg, Canada Area

Helping grow the movement of certified Beneficial corporation (B Corp) entrepreneurs in Canada! B-Corp focuses on triple bottom line- profit, people and planet- with a goal to promote sustainable businesses that do good.

Winnipeg, Canada Area

Used business acumen to help small and mid-sized business executives address their strategic and operational challenges. Applying an ISO-certified process and business model mapping I identified opportunities and prioritized next steps. Partnered with internal teams and consultants to scope and execute projects on-time and on-budget. • Keynote speaker at The Executive Network’s growth summit, sharing my experience managing a high growth firm to almost 100 executives. Also a panel member alongside Bruce Croxton (Dragon’s Den) for Q&A from the attendees.• Promoted after six months due to exceptional performance, securing one of BDC’s largest consulting contracts.

Winnipeg, Canada Area

At BDC we strive to increase SME's competitiveness through insightful advisory services. The consulting team works with entrepreneurs to optimize their practices and strengthen their core business.

Work with the committee to develop and implement strategic vision for the Chamber. Our current focus is the BOLD campaign.

Winnipeg, Canada Area

Managed marketing and business development activities for 16 offices in Manitoba and Northwest Ontario with a $750,000 budget. Built a marketing culture through coaching and mentoring, won key new accounts, and championed key initiatives at a national level. • Developed and managed relationships with strategic referral sources, ranging from business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce to other professionals and business owners. I was recognized by several senior executives for raising BDO’s profile in the community.• Organized numerous events to boost firm’s profile, including roundtables with leading Winnipeg CEOs, a roundtable with Ambassador Gary Doer, and seminars that attracted 200+ clients.

London, United Kingdom

Natural Retail Company (“Natural”) was a chain of healthy cafés/retail based in and around London, UK. It began operations in 2003 with one store and had grown to fourteen by 2007. Oversaw day-to-day operations for 5 stores with almost 100 staff and a budget of £1.4million ($2.8million CDN). • Spearheaded opening of thirteen new stores, including six in a six month period. This included liaising with architects, builders, suppliers, local government, and other Natural staff. • Worked with CEO to present Natural to angel investors, winning £1.5 million ($3 million CDN).• Turned around first year performance by concentrating on sales and cost control. Joining to improve company performance, I turned Natural’s first year projected loss of £45,000 into a profit of £28,000. Continued improvements increased our margin and year-over-year sales.

Ba, Business

Activities and Societies: VP of UWSA "Info Guy"

Education record

Haccp Certificate

Business Model Canvas Certification