Junior Achievement Alaska Business Monthly Hall of Fame Laureate: Jim Jansen.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: Junior Achievement 2009 Special Section

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Jim Jansen knows how to succeed in business. As the CEO of Lynden Inc., he, his family and "a great team of Lynden people" have nurtured the company from its roots hauling agricultural products in Washington state to becoming a worldwide leader in transport. On Jan. 30, 2009, Jansen will be inducted into the Alaska Business Hall of Fame to honor his contributions to Alaska and to the transportation industry as a whole.

Jansen, originally from Lynden, Wash., came to Alaska in 1967 and worked as a truck driver at the Kennecott Mine. After working as a U.S. Navy Seabee heavy-equipment operator and serving a tour of duty in Vietnam, Jansen joined Lynden in 1970.

"I worked as a terminal manager in Anchorage, and have also held positions as the Southeast District manager, Fairbanks terminal manager, Alaska general manager and president of Lynden Transport Inc.," explained Jansen. In 1982, Jansen became the president and CEO of Lynden Inc.

Today, the Lynden family of companies serves not only Alaska and Washington, but also western Canada and points across the U.S. One-third of Lynden's business is provided through air transportation, one-third from the trucking business and one-third from the marine division. Capabilities include truckload and less-than-truckload transportation, scheduled and charter barges, rail barges, inter-modal bulk chemical hauls, scheduled and chartered air freighters, domestic and international air forwarding, international ocean forwarding, customs brokerage, remote site construction, sanitary bulk commodities hauling and multi-modal logistics.

Jansen credits his work ethic to his father, Hank Jansen. "He knew the value of hard work and the importance of meeting customer needs," said Jansen. "At Lynden, this means providing the highest level of schedule integrity, reliability and personal handling of customer requirements."

This personal attention extends to Lynden's business partners as well. "We couldn't ask for a better partner," said Jim Mendenhall, Red Dog Contracting, NANA Development Corp. Lynden and NANA have been partners at the Red Dog Mine for the past 10 years. "Jim is a hands-on guy who can also step back and look at the big picture. If I asked him right now, he could tell me what size tires we're running on our trucks at Red Dog. He could also jump in the truck and drive it, and is even licensed to fly the Herc."

"Jim leads by example and sets the tone for Lynden," agreed Ken...