Join us for a joint AGC/CFMA meeting!

Learning Objectives

• How urban planning impacts construction demand
• How state and local policies affect the construction industry
• How the construction industry can partner with local government and businesses to address shared challenges
• Skills gaps in the construction workforce and ways to mitigate
• Adoption of sustainable practices and economic incentives for green construction and energy efficient building

Jim Holmes has served Waco City Council since 2016. Jim brings 35 years of financial management experience to the Council, serving as COO/EVP of FirstCity Financial Corp & SVP of FNB of Central Texas. He is currently President of HOTCOG, Chairman of Waco MPO, & Board Director for Waco Sports Commission & Cameron Park Zoo. Jim is a graduate of Creighton University and attended Baylor School of Law.

Jim Holmes was appointed to the Waco City Council in June 2016 as the representative for District V.  He was elected to the District V seat in May 2017 and was re-elected in May 2019 and May 2021. Holmes served as the Mayor Pro Tem in 2017-2018.

Holmes owns and manages a private equity portfolio in the name of FirstHawk Capital, and serves as a Financial Consultant to O’Brien-Staley Partners (a Minneapolis-based investment fund).  He previously served as Senior Vice President with the First National Bank of Central Texas, a regional bank headquartered in Waco.  Prior to FNBCT, Holmes served as Director and Executive Vice President of FirstCity Commercial Corporation (a global commercial real estate investment & services firm based in Waco) for over 25 years. Jim helped establish the FirstCity international investment platform in Waco in 1991, assisted in taking the platform public in 1995, and served as its Chief Operations Officer and Corporate Treasurer until 2015.  Holmes has served as Director on the Boards of over 20 investment and operating companies, including business lines in the U.S., France, Germany, Mexico and Chile [among them: a regional railroad, an operating coal mine, an oilfield housing manufacturer, an SBA loan originator/servicer, a ceramics importer, and a multifamily cabinets manufacturer].

Holmes currently serves as Chairman of Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board, as President of the Heart of Texas Council of Governments Executive Board, and as Director on the State Board of the Texas Association of Regional Councils.  He also currently serves as Board Director on the Greater Waco Sports Commission, the Cameron Park Zoo Commission, and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.  Holmes is also a member of the Waco City Council’s Budget & Audit Committee and Boards & Commissions Committee.  Jim and his wife Cindy are active members of St. Louis Church of Waco, and they support several community non-profits, including the Waco Symphony Orchestra, Lake Air Little League, Leadership Waco, American Cancer Society, and Creative Waco.

Jim received his Finance Degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska; and attended Baylor School of Law.  Holmes also served as instructor at the LSU Graduate School of Banking in Baton Rouge.  He has two sons: Spencer and Kennedy.  In his spare time, Holmes enjoys fly-fishing, reading, celebrating Waco’s Blues Music history, playing the guitar, and adventure travel (including Running with the Bulls in Pamplona, jet-skiing the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to New Orleans, bi-plane wing-walking in Seattle, riding camels around the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.)