NAPM – Southern Colorado
Historical Perspective

In 1975 several Colorado Springs Purchasing Managers would venture out on to I-25 and drive up to Denver to attend a monthly NAPM-Denver chapter meeting. These early NAPM pioneers who made this monthly trek in search of NAPM included: Norm Harpole – School District 11, Casey Casner – City of Colorado Springs, Glen Law - City of Colorado Springs and Ralph Muenchau – Honeywell, Inc. However, in late 1975 and early 1976, and after several monthly trips to attend the Denver NAPM Meetings, Norm Harpole and Casey Casner decided it was time to establish our own local NAPM chapter here in Colorado Springs. Thus, in 1976, with Norm Harpole as the first president, NAPM Southern Colorado held its very first meeting in Colorado Springs, and as the saying goes, "if you build it they will come", and they did – we had about 10 to 15 people in attendance at the meeting.

Several years later as membership in the local affiliate grew to some 45 members, and, as word got out about the local organization, Norm Harpole began teaching purchasing classes at night for its members. These classes were the first formal purchasing education offered in the Colorado Springs area. At that time, most buyers did not have any kind of formal purchasing education and most job knowledge was gained from either OJT or through mentors. So, these early professional development classes were very well received by the membership.

Some of the early supporters of NAPM-Southern Colorado included: Art Croissant – City of Pueblo, Vic Johnson – Hewlett Packard, Gene Hagans – C.I.G., Earl Emery – CF & I Steel, and Ellen Cesarone – Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Often these early members had to assume multiple roles within the affiliate and had to fill in wherever they were needed. This early affiliate membership consisted of 4 or 5 members from the Pueblo area and the remainder of the membership came from Colorado Springs. Some of the local businesses who were strong supporters of NAPM – Southern Colorado then included: Litton Industries, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell, NCR, AMI, C.I.G., and Holly Sugar. In 1976 NCR and Honeywell were considered newcomers to the area as they were in the process of starting up operations in Colorado Springs. C.I.G. was a big player in its support of the local affiliate as several of the C.I.G. employees held positions on the Board-of-Directors and in other various committee chair positions for a number of years. However, in 1987, the affiliate incurred a major setback when C.I.G. closed its purchasing office in Colorado Springs and moved to Texas, leaving several vacancies on the affiliate Board, including that of President. However, Ellen Cesarone stepped forward and assumed the office of president for a second term, and successfully recruited other members of the affiliate to step forward and fill in.

As the years passed many new companies came to Colorado Springs and the affiliate membership grew to about 70 members. Some of the new companies in town at that time included IBM, Rolm, INMOS, Applied Magnetics, Atmel, and MCI. These new companies along with business such as The Broadmoor Hotel, Current, Public Service Co., Schlage Lock, Lockheed Martin, and Colorado College all of which contributed to the support of NAPM Southern Colorado. Along with the continued support from these local businesses, quality educational programs, and the services and support of NAPM National, the current membership of NAPM Southern Colorado has grown to 117 members strong.

Affiliate dinner meetings and Board meetings have changed locations numerous times throughout the years. Originally, the organization met at the Holiday Inn off of Garden of the Gods Road, then we moved over to the Palmer House off of Fillmore. After that we met at the Holiday Inn on 8th Street and than at the LeBaron Hotel on Bijou off of I-25. In the late 1980's we had our dinner meetings at the Broadmoor Hotel. Since 1999 we have been meeting at the Double Tree-World Arena on Lake Avenue. In the early years NAPM Southern Colorado held its monthly breakfast board meetings at the Holiday Inn on Saturday mornings. However, over the last 10 years or so we have held our monthly Board meetings at Colorado College in the old Van Briggle building on Glen Avenue. In addition, the affiliate has been the host of two District III Council Meetings here in Colorado Springs.

Over the past twenty-five years the affiliate has established itself as an invaluable part of the community. We continue to support worthy local organizations in the area such as the Pikes Peak Library, the American Cancer Society, The Children's Literacy Program, and various local scholarship funds. The affiliate still continues to provide educational classes, seminars, and teleconferences on Purchasing and Supply Chain Management in order to promote the development of our members and the profession.