James Bates
Co-Founder, Datapath
As a senior in high school, James was recruited by a 500-employee Bay Area company to completely overhaul and run an entire IT department. As his career progressed and word spread of his success, business owners in the Valley began to take notice. In 2000, James started his first company, JB Networks, and five years later partnered with a childhood friend to form Datapath.
In addition to Datapath and the IT world, James enjoys real estate investing and development. He is currently a partner in several real estate entities, including a development project located across from Kaiser Hospital in Modesto. James is a founding board member for Code X, which teaches coding to low-income students and exposes them to college and technology careers. He also serves on the board for the United Way, focusing on projects that impact our local youth. He is a Central Valley native and lives in Modesto with his wife and their four sons. He loves his family and this community, and he feels lucky to have some of the best friends anyone could ever hope to have.