James J. McGraw, Jr. is the President and Chief Executive Officer of KMK Consulting and a member of its Board of Directors. Jim is also a Corporate Partner of Keating, Muething & Klekamp PLL, the parent of KMK Consulting. His background is centered in business development, public utilities, insurance and not-for-profit organizations. Jim’s law firm clients include national and international firms in the areas of real estate, financial services, manufacturing, energy, and technology. He has been actively involved in business and related client consulting for over 36 years.

Jim is a nationally recognized consultant in the area of economic development. He has worked in over 80 cities and regions across the U.S., helping community and business leaders design and build some of the country’s leading economic development organizations. He has been instrumental in the growth of these organizations in such markets as Akron, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Buffalo, Charlotte, Charleston, Cincinnati, Daytona Beach, Honolulu, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Worth, Irvine (CA), Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Memphis, Naples, Omaha, Orlando, Phoenix, Rochester (NY), San Diego, San Francisco, Scottsdale, St. Louis, Tampa, Tucson and Washington, D.C. Jim is an active member of the International Economic Development Council, the Urban Land Institute and related regional associations.

Jim focuses on a variety of strategic work for clients which include organizational design, leadership development, capital structuring, public/private partnerships, performance benchmarking, strategic planning and implementation of initiatives to attract, retain and develop business. Jim has met with more than 3,000 CEOs and senior executives in the course of his work and has also directed funding initiatives for clients totaling in excess of $500 million.

Recently led a major strategic planning effort for the City of Cincinnati called GO Cincinnati. His team included The Brookings Institution and Robert Charles Lesser and Company. He just concluded his term on the Governing Board of the Cincinnati USA Partnership, the Cincinnati region’s 13 county economic development organization which he helped launch in 1984. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Cincinnati, Inc., and BIO/START, the Cincinnati region’s biotechnology business incubator, and also serves as an advisor to CincyTech USA, that region’s accelerator for technology businesses. Jim is also a member of the Aviation Committee of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. Jim recently served as Co-Chair for Economic Competitiveness for Agenda 360 for the Cincinnati USA region. He is a member of the International Who’s Who of Professionals, the Empire Who’s Who and serves on the Boards of numerous privately held businesses, civic and charitable organizations. Jim has been recognized by his peers as an Ohio Super Lawyer representing the top 5% of Ohio attorneys. Jim also serves on the National Advisory Board for Executive Education at Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business which oversees its internationally ranked EMBA program. Previously, Jim was regulatory trial counsel for the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. (now Duke Energy) and served on active duty with Air Force J.A.G. at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Jim holds an accounting degree from The University of Notre Dame and a law degree from The University of Akron. He resides in Cincinnati with his wife Anne. They have four grown daughters.

jmcgraw@kmkconsulting.com