Cropper Industries founded
Jim Cropper established the company after a 20-year U.S. Air Force career, bringing federal mission, cyber, command, and joint-operations experience into the business.
About Cropper
Built for consequential Government missions.
Cropper Industries LLC was founded in 2015 and operates Cropper Federal Security, Cropper Aviation, and Human Performance & Organizational Readiness as customer-facing business areas. The company combines corporate federal past performance with clearly attributed key-personnel depth in cyber, command, combat aviation, C-130 training, behavioral research, and human performance.
- Founded
- 2015 · 11+ years in business
- Company
- Cropper Industries LLC
- Ownership status
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business
- Business areas
- Federal Security · Aviation · Human Performance & Organizational Readiness
- Operating model
- Senior-led · partner-capable · evidence-driven
Corporate history
Built on more than a decade of federal mission experience.
First DoD contract
Cropper began supporting Air Force Distributed Common Ground System Systems Security Engineering Services as a subcontractor.
DCGS security-engineering performance
Cropper contributed roughly 11 FTEs and approximately one-third of SSES personnel/effort across systems security engineering and cybersecurity support.
Three mission businesses
Federal Security, Aviation, and Human Performance & Organizational Readiness now give Government buyers and prime partners distinct paths into Cropper capability.
Leadership & key personnel
Mission credibility comes from people who have done the work.
Leadership experience spans combat-tested Air Force command and cyber operations, joint crisis planning, special-operations combat aviation, C-130 instruction and evaluation, behavioral research, workforce performance, and PhD-level psychology.
Jim Cropper · President / CEO
Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and combat veteran with 20 years of service as a Cyber and Space Officer, former squadron commander, and former USAFRICOM J35 crisis-action planner. His graduate education includes an MBA in Information Technology and a master's degree in Military Operational Art & Science; he also holds the CISSP credential.
Jonathan Cotton · Aviation leadership
Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, decorated combat pilot, instructor, evaluator, and special-operations aviation leader. His documented experience includes 3,060+ A/MC-130H/W flight hours, 1,900 instructor flight hours, and 800+ hours in Class D simulators.
Janell C. Cotton, PhD, MS, MHR · Human Performance
Holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (2026), with advanced applied and industrial/organizational psychology education, behavioral-research experience, performance psychology-informed coaching, training, workforce development, and military-family research experience.
Leadership and key-personnel credentials are attributed to the individuals who earned them; they are not presented as Cropper corporate past performance. Regulated clinical practice remains subject to current licensure, credentialing, and requirement-specific verification.
Depth at a glance
Relevant numbers a Government buyer or prime can understand quickly.
11+ yrsCropper operating since 2015
20 yrsfounder U.S. Air Force service
3,060+documented A/MC-130H/W flight hours in aviation leadership
1,900documented C-130 instructor flight hours
800+documented Class D simulator hours
PhDDoctor of Philosophy in Psychology (2026); MS, MHR supporting Human Performance
How we work
Make the mission, evidence, authority, and outcome visible.
We prefer clear requirements, bounded commitments, documented assumptions, measurable delivery, and early escalation of compliance or performance risk. That operating discipline applies whether Cropper serves as prime, subcontractor, niche teammate, staffing partner, training provider, or specialist contributor.