James is an alumnus of Appalachian State University where he majored in Finance and Banking with a Certification in Certified Financial Planning. He has lived in the Town of Boone since May 2000 where he pursued commercial real estate after being a real estate paralegal for Richard E. Mattar, Attorney at Law. In 2005, he started Milner Research Services, LLC which provided independent real estate consulting and analysis to developers and attorneys in northwest North Carolina. In 2013, he was awarded the prestigious CCIM designation by The CCIM Institute. He is the only designee in his area involved full time in commercial real estate. In 2014, he founded Appalachian Commercial Real Estate, LLC to provide brokerage, leasing, consulting and appraisal commercial real estate services. He currently holds a brokers and appraisal license in North Carolina.

Mr. Milner works in all areas of commercial real estate representing both Buyers and Sellers. Furthermore, he is involved in leasing transactions representing both Landlords and Tenants. Mr. Milner is a member of CCIM Institute, High County Association of Realtors, National Association of Realtors, NC-CCIM Chapter, Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Yosef Club. Mr. Milner and his family are members of Boone United Methodist Church.

Mr. Milner is engaged and committed to service and community involvement. He is a past board member for the Western Youth Network, a non-profit organization providing mentoring, after-school and prevention programs in
Watauga and bordering counties to adolescence youth. As a founding member, he served on the Executive Board for Young Professionals of Boone, whose mission is to cultivate next generation leadership in the High Country by retaining and recruiting young professionals through business and social networking. He served as the Grand Chapter Advisor for the Epsilon Rho Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity at Appalachian State University. From 2007 to 2017, Mr. Milner served the Town of Boone as a member of the Board of Adjustment.

For nine years, Mr. Milner, served on the NC-CCIM Board of Directors, assisting with the areas of Candidate Guidance and Scholarships. He was the 2022 President of the NC-CCIM Chapter. He was the 2022 Chair of the Professional Standards Committee and is the 2024 Chair of the Designation Committee of The CCIM Institute.

Mr. Milner and his wife, Catharine Milner, together have two sons – Peter and Ian – and reside in Boone, NC.