James Lacey James Lacey, Thousand Oaks entrepreneur and business leader, has had a long and successful career in the consumer packaged goods industry. His leadership has helped several companies dominate their categories, and his own business ventures were met with explosive revenue growth and market penetration. Jim possesses a wide range of skills, including sales, marketing, and executive operations, all of which have helped him to achieve a reputation as a global expert in consumer goods. Jim Lacey’s Westlake Village-based snack food business Crunchies was a near-instant success. Starting small in an office building, the company grew quickly under his leadership, transforming into a snack food powerhouse. Jim’s experience as a business leader helped the company weather difficult economic times, and by 2014, the Crunchies company was the leading freeze dried snack producer in the United States, according to Nielson Research. Mr. Lacey oversaw day-to-day operations, including raising capital, negotiating trademark and licensing, vendor sourcing, and the manufacturing operations at its sprawling 17,000 square foot processing facility. The company offered a wide variety of snacks to consumers and distributed them internationally. According to James Lacey, Crunchies and its 32 product varieties was the industry’s leader in its market niche. Jim earned a bachelor’s degree from California Polytechnic State University, located in San Luis Obispo, California. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Marketing in 1981. His rigorous education at Cal-Poly gave him the tools needed to succeed as a vital business leader and entrepreneur. Jim took the skills he acquired in school, applying them in work with several international corporations such as SmithKline Beecham, Nestle S.A., and Power Bar. He also founded his own business operations, one being a consumer packaging consultancy called Performance Consulting Group. Here, he worked with companies across the globe, assisting in strategic planning and feasibility studies along with sales-generation strategies. The latest, Healthy Ventures LLC, is Jim’s primary focus for 2017 and beyond. Jim has had an extensive career as a business executive. One of his major areas of expertise is in the sports nutrition field. He has served as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Weider Nutrition International as well as the COO of Everlast Nutritional Products. Both companies enjoy increased market share and sales thanks to his experience and knack for transforming existing brands. After returning to corporate work, Jim became the Chief Snack Officer for Snack It Forward. Here, he was instrumental in revitalizing and rebranding snack foods for Sunkist. His expertise with consumer goods packaging and sourcing product ingredients gave the company a much-needed boost, and he received the accolades from industry partners for his stewardship. Currently, James Lacey serves as the Managing Partner of Healthy Ventures, LLC, based in the greater Los Angeles area. As an expert in the field of snack foods and consumer food goods, he has helped many companies achieve new levels of success. Among his many duties at Healthy Ventures, he handles new product development, sales and marketing initiatives, and product manufacturing
logistics. Jim has earned a reputation as a transformation agent, breathing new life into existing brands while spearheading the launch of new products and brands across the snack foods market.