Jim is the Vice Chairman of Hancock Lumber Company’s board of directors, which he has served on since 2014. Over the course of his career he has successfully built teams and held senior executive positions in a number of Fortune 500 organizations in both the US and Europe including: LEGO Corporation, Hasbro Corporation, General Mills and Saucony, the athletic footwear company. He was a founding member of the original team that introduced LEGO brand products into the United States. At General Mills, he was responsible for marketing/new ventures and consumer product introductions into 10 European countries.

Jim has worked with venture capital organizations to acquire, manage and grow a wide variety of businesses. Fiduciary board positions in addition to Hancock Lumber have included, Hyde Athletic (Saucony Shoe), Zone Labs the maker of nutritional products and supplements, Molecular Insight with targeted cancer therapy drugs, and Member Benefits, a national company that provides fund raising tools for entities such as National Public Radio (NPR), and the Sierra Club.  Jim has also held not for profit board positions at The Forbeck Cancer Research Foundation as Board member and Trustee Emeritus, the Osher Rare Map Library / Smith Center for Cartographic Research at the University of Southern Maine, and the Cumberland Club in Portland, Maine. Additionally, he co-founded and facilitates the Maine Board Forum, a private peer to peer CEO problem solving group represented by CEO’s whose Maine businesses collectively represent approximately $200 million in revenue and 500 employees.

Something you might not know about Jim? In the 1980’s, he obtained the musical rights for Cabbage Patch Kids.  He formed a music company and produced a record that sold enough copies to earn a Gold Album as Executive Producer.  Additionally, Jim cycled for many years mostly to raise money for cancer research.  In 2003, he was selected to be on a team of twenty led by Lance Armstrong to cycle across the country and raise awareness for clinical trails.  The team rode relay from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in eight days and averaged 21 miles per hour. Currently, and for the past twenty years, Jim has served as a board member of the William Guy Forbeck Cancer Research Foundation where he is currently Trustee Emeritus. Jim is an active fundraiser for this charity and has raised over $500K to support pediatric cancer research.

He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and served with distinction in Vietnam.

“There is a significant level of trust, engagement, and participation throughout the entire Hancock organization.  I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with world-class companies and, certainly, Hancock lumber is just that.  So, for me, being a member of the Hancock Lumber Board is an energizing opportunity to utilize the various business building skills and experiences obtained over the years in a dynamic, creative, team-oriented environment.”

-Jim Buchanan