President and CEO, Empire Company Limited, Stellarton, NS
James W. Gogan was born in Springhill, N.S. in 1938. He recieved his B. Commerce from Dalhousie University and articled with Doane Raymond. He is married with four children and resides in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. He was awarded the Order of Malta in 1992 and on May 4, 1997 recieved an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Francis Xavier University.
Mr. Gogan was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of Empire Company Limited in July of 1994. He has held a number of increasingly senior positions within the Empire Group over the past 35 years, including service as President of Empire since 1985.
Mr. Gogan also serves on the boards of Empire Company Limited, Hannaford Bros. Co. (USA), Wajax Limited, Sobeys Inc., Crombie Insurance (UK) Limited and Atlantic Shopping Centres Limited, as well as Sobeys Leased Properties Limited . He serves as Chairman and Director of the St. Francis Xavier University Foundation and Vice-Chairman of the Aberdeen Hospital Foundation.
Empire Company Limited is a diversified Canadian food and pharmaceutical distributor and, together with its real estate portfolio of more than 10,000.000 sq.ft., has annual revenues exceeding $3 billion. Empire also has operations in the automotive, movie theatre and oil and gas industries, as well as a geographically diversified investment portfolio.