He worked as a house painter and subsequently as a teacher, serving at nearby St. Rose of Lima School in Milwaukee.

He held office from 1983 until 1987; In January 1983, he was appointed and simultaneously served as the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Development.

[2] After he left office, he retired from politics and took a job as a project development executive with American Medical Buildings.

[3] Flynn ran for a judgeship on the Wisconsin Circuit Court in Milwaukee County in 1999, but was defeated by incumbent Judge John E. McCormick.

In 2003, he was appointed to the Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission by Governor Jim Doyle, and he was reappointed as chairman in 2005.