Barron is a Past President of the Associated Utility Contractors of Maryland (AUC), a member of their Board of Directors from 1985 thru 2005; and the former publisher of the AUC magazine "Underneath It All". He was honored as the Maryland Chapter's "Ditchdigger of the Year" in 1996. As Past Region III Vice President of the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA), he acted as the Association's liaison to nine NUCA chapters in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia & West Virginia.
Barron was an original member of the Steering Committee of the "Common Ground Best Practices Study" and sat on the Evolution/Implementation Team, the precursor to the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). He was appointed to the interim CGA Board of Directors as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's "Path Forward" efforts. He served three terms as the organization's first President and still holds the excavator seat on the CGA Board of Directors. Barron was honored by the CGA when they established the "Jim Barron Award"; which is given annually "...to an individual(s) or organization(s) that has shown true dedication to efforts that enhance underground damage prevention". The award can and has gone go to non-CGA members since its inception. Additionally, because of Barron's dedication to the CGA and Damage Prevention, the Underground Safety Institute, a national organization of One Call Centers, awarded Barron their "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2004.
In 2000, Jim Barron was honored with NUCA's most prestigious award of "Ditch Digger of the Year" for his work in the area of damage prevention and his contributions to the Common Ground Study and the CGA. He has served 12 years on NUCA's Board of Directors; was a member of the NUCA Executive Board for ten of those years and NUCA's Administrative Board as Secretary in the 2004-05 term.
As a nationally recognized and respected expert on damage prevention, Barron leant his expertise to the association as Chairman of NUCA's Damage Prevention Committee (1999-2003), and continues to serve on that committee. After a leave of absence from association leadership, due to his wife Virginia's terminal illness, he has again renewed his work on behalf of the utility contracting industry. He was installed as the Secretary on the NUCA Administrative Board at the Utility Construction EXPO '09 in Phoenix, Arizona in March 2009.
Barron has been a life long Republican and consistently contributed to the National Party and Campaigns, the State Party and Campaigns and the local Party and Campaigns. He was appointed to the RCCHC in February of 2008 to fill the vacant seat of Wayne Norman who was appointed to fill the vacant Delegate Seat in District 35A. In addition to the associations noted above, Barron is also a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Aberdeen, the Harford County Republican Club, the Rte. 40 Republican Club, the Home Builders Association of Maryland (HBAM), the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the Associated Subcontractors Association (ASA), the Building Congress & Exchange (BC&E), the Harford County Contractors Association (HCCA), the Anne Arundel Contractors Association (AACA), the Greater Harford Committee, the Harford Business for Responsible Government, the Harford Chamber of Commerce, the Harford Business Roundtable, Aberdeen Lodge No. 187 A.F.&A.M., the Havre de Grace Lodge No. 1564 BPOE and Past President of the Aberdeen Jaycees, JCI Senator 33388.
Barron has two children, Gregory 41 & Deena 31 and four grandchildren, Jeff 19, Chris 18, Griffin 10 & Brynn 7. His wife Virginia 'Ginny' Barron of 38 years passed away in March of 2005 after a year long battle with uterine cancer.