A trusted advisor to business owners, executive coach and public speaker, Jim Jackson is President and CEO of The Essex Group, a regional consulting firm with clients in eleven states.  He helps clients maximize their potential by sharpening their vision, strategy and goals by motivating and accelerating positive change.  Clients engage Jim and his firm to ease the process of adapting to challenge and change.  They build vision, focus, clarity and consensus, achieving new levels of business and personal performance as a result.

Jim’s 40 years of diversified business experience range from a high-tech startup to serving as a Fortune 500 aerospace division general manager, giving him a rare insight into the balances that must be struck in a successful business enterprise.  The Group's clients cover the economic spectrum in both public and private sectors including: manufacturing, not-for-profit, healthcare, retail, banking, transportation, insurance, news & broadcast media, professional and personal services, software development, petroleum & chemicals, agriculture, education, commercial real estate, yacht brokerage, government agencies and business & trade associations.

Jim is a regular speaker for businesses and associations on a variety of professional development topics.  He is a member of The Institute of Management Consultants, a founding member of The Corporate Coaching Center, and a member of the International Association of Coaches.

Jim is author or co-author of a number of business and personal development programs, including Compete to Win!^™, Advanced Selling “Secrets”^™,and A Lifetime of Learning^©.  He designed and co-facilitates the Side Street to Main Street business and leadership development program.  This program sponsored by the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce and funded by a generous grant from the Aetna Foundation, has won several awards from the NAACP and the U.S. Small Business Administration over its twelve-year history.

In addition, Jim serves on the boards or advisory councils of several business, civic and charitable organizations and founded the Connecticut Skilled Trades Coalition; a voice for small manufacturers.  He is a faculty member of the Essex Management Center, a strategy and leadership forum for senior executives from developing nations.  Jim served as a moderator for the Connecticut state and northeast regional meetings of the White House Conference on Small Business.  He is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Click here to see a list of seminars Jim had presented.

Isabel Jackson joined The Essex Group in 1999 and is their Vice President, CFO and web master. 

Isabel, has worked in industry and manufacturing as well as a nurse for 37 years and brings her expertise of working with people in many different situations to the Group.

Isabel develops programs in customer service, telephone etiquette, business etiquette, developing your brand and setting goals that your customers will value.  She coaches people on how to make working more effective, how to keep your customers coming back, how to compete with other businesses and how to make a profitable business.   

Isabel has worked in manufacturing offices, industrial fields, and the medical field, in physician’s offices,  hospital departments, emergency care centers, home health nursing and in nursing homes.  She has a nursing degree along with a life experience of working with all kinds of people.

Isabel enjoys motivating people and making sure work is an exciting place every day. 

Thomas Abbott, Senior Associate, is an accomplished consultant and speaker with special emphasis in manufacturing, organizational development, leadership, and change management issues.  He has worked with organizations as diverse as manufacturers, software developers, labor unions, and government.

Tom's background includes various operational assignments as construction project management and industrial market research.  He has held extensive experience in managing venture capital relationships, negotiation and structuring of international joint ventures and implementation of financial controls. 

Tom's professional experience as a high level financial executive in management includes controller positions in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial companies to a major division of  Fortune 250 corporations.  His responsibilities in these positions have included all controllership and treasury functions as well as extensive responsibilities in human resources management and information systems.

Tom is Managing Director of the Essex Management Center.  The Essex Management Center provides leading edge management programs for clients around the world.  For more information, go to this web site: (www.EssexMgmtCenter.com). 

Mr. Abbott is a Professor at Post University in Waterbury, CT.   

Mr. Abbott holds Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Boston College.

David Bohy is Vice President of The Essex Group and President of Organizational Solutions, Inc.  David is Vice President of our Healthcare Leadership Institute division.

David is widely recognized as an expert in organizational development, strategic planning, human resource management, quality and customer service improvement.  He has provided consulting services to a variety of organizations, including health care, long term care, human services, manufacturing, business services, and insurance.  He has also earned national recognition for implementation of quality improvement initiatives.

David has a B.A. from Aurora University and completed the Executive Development Program at Harvard University.  He has taught in the management programs at Clark University, Harvard University/Radcliffe College and Bryant University.  He is Certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Personnel Accreditation Institute.  He serves on the boards of a number of community and professional organizations, including chairing the board of a non-profit long-term care company.

Barry Foster is Senior Advisor to The Essex Group, President of Fostering Solutions, Inc., a management, sales and leadership consulting firm, Founder and Principal of ASearch, LLC, an executive selection, development and retention firm, (www.ASearchllc.com) and Founder/Director of The Corporate Coaching Center (www.everyoneneedsacoach.com).

Barry brings over 35 years of industry, sales, effective management and leadership development, executive coaching, recruiting experience, and public speaking to the Group.

Barry is creator of Optimizing Your Potential for Success, and co-author of Successful Selling in the New Game of Business.  He develops customized training solutions that produce long-term results.  He uses a variety of assessment tools to implement systematic analysis of management skills, styles and capacity for teamwork.  Barry identifies the needs for leadership and management development, designs and conducts seminars, facilitates team building and works with individual leaders in coaching them to increase success.

The development of effective sales management and sales professional is an area that has earned Barry National recognition. His clients benefit from his emphasis on a high level of management involvement in planning a well-orchestrated training process that precisely fits each situation. Barry is a Registered Corporate Coach (RCC), Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA), and a Senior Advisory Board Member to the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC).