President/CEO
ppoNEXT, Inc.
Jim Pennington serves as president and chief executive officer of ppoNEXT, one of the larger preferred provider organizations in the United States, contracting with more than 350,000 physicians and more than 3,500 facilities nationwide. Soon after joining the organization in early 2004 as chief operating officer, he assumed expanded responsibilities including the leadership and growth of NEXT care management, a subsidiary of ppoNEXT. Pennington was promoted to executive vice president and elected to the ppoNEXT board of directors in 2005.
Pennington's career has included key executive positions at leading third-party administration and multi-product employee benefits companies, where he demonstrated innovative decision-making and skills in corporate development and integration. Most recently, he was the president and CEO of USI Administrators, Inc. (now CBCA, Inc.), a national third- party administrator headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to his tenure at USIA, Pennington served as president and CEO of Medex International, Inc., a division of Houston Casualty Company, and Acordia National, Inc.
Pennington earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in safety management from West Virginia University. He also attended the Young Executive Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
