Bombers’ chief operating officer exits

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This article was published 26/08/2014 (4054 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The purge of executives continues for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The club announced Tuesday that Jim Bell, the team’s vice-president and chief operating officer, will be leaving the team effective this Friday. He joins Jeffrey Bannon, Jerry Maslowsky and Fin Patterson, the team’s former director of community relations, vice-president of marketing and vice-president/director of sales, respectively, as the latest high-profile staff member to leave since the spring.

“On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to thank Jim for his dedication, work ethic, professionalism, and most importantly, his passion for this Football Club over the past decade-plus,” said Bombers President and CEO Wade Miller in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. “Jim took on many roles and responsibilities throughout his time with the Football Club, and always did it with extraordinary effort. He is truly one of the good people in this world. We sincerely thank him for his years of service to this club, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

The team said Bell’s position would not be filled, as part of “the restructuring process.”

A lifelong Winnipegger and graduate of the University of Manitoba, Bell joined the Bombers in 2002 as the director of finance before being promoted to vice-president of finance and administration in 2006. He was then named interim president of the club late in 2009 and took over the job — he called it his “dream job” — permanently in February 2010. He remained with the club as vice-president and chief operating officer when Garth Buchko took over as president in 2011.

Bell played a key role in the organization’s transition from Canad Inns Stadium to Investors Group Field as well as other special projects, including the 2006 Grey Cup.