If you see Jim Fair III out of the office, he’s probably running. In fact, even his 3-year-old daughter has taken up his running hobby, asking him to go outside and eagerly prompting, “Let’s run, Daddy!”
Each time his shoe hits the trail, pavement or treadmill, stress simply melts away.
It correlates well with Jim’s professional career, too. While there is one thing you can never outrun – taxes! – the path you take can reduce your stress.
As INB’s newest Senior Business Tax Associate, Jim can help you face your taxes head-on and alleviate the strain of the process.
“I like to work with clients in person because it gives me the opportunity to go more in-depth with their personal situations. I can answer questions and figure out if I need to dig deeper to find anything that could help incorporate their financial goals into a strategic plan for their tax returns,” he shares.
Northern Illinois Roots Spread South
Jim hails from the Chicago area and graduated from Benedictine University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in management and organizational behavior, with a strong concentration in accounting.
2010 brought him to Central Illinois, as he worked at a Lean Six Sigma global professional services firm, before working for the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) in Champaign-Urbana.
Jim earned his CPA license just prior to gaining professional tax experience through a tax preparation company, and then obtained internal audit experience at a regional bank. It was while he was at another local accounting firm that a recruiter found him and told him about INB.
“The opportunity was presented to start as a tax associate and be able to help our clients obtain more clarity about their financial position, activity and trends. With INB, I realized I could build more proactive long-term partnerships with my clients, not only preparing the tax return but also go deeper to see what else we can do to help our clients throughout the year,” Jim says.
Central Illinois Now Home
Although Jim works in the INB Bloomington office, he lives in the Champaign area, which he loves to explore (and not only in his running shoes.) He and his wife enjoy trying different foods, whether it’s a great steak on the home grill or a new recipe his wife is recreating from the Food Network. He’s still quite partial to Chicago-style pizza and has found a couple local pizza joints that “get pretty close,” he laughs.
Jim was also heavily involved with the area’s Second Wind Running Club and is now retired from the Board after serving as member, vice president and president over several years. One notable accomplishment is that Jim helped C-U to be chosen as an official “Runner Friendly Community,” as designated by the Road Runners Club of America.
Jim is excited to join the robust INB Wealth Management team and hopes to eventually “get to the level where I can offer advisory/brokerage services to our customers in addition to tax preparation and planning,” he says.
“I’m really looking forward to continue helping people through INB,” he notes. “I’m glad to be here at INB, and I’m looking forward to engaging our community and helping our customers through a holistic planning process from end-to-end.”
Welcome Jim!