From The President
St. Louis and the 64th NIGP Forum and Products Exposition beckons. In August, Public Purchasing
Professionals from all over the United States and several other countries will be gathering under the
Arch for five full days of purchasing education and professional networking. I am happy to report that
MACPP already has sixteen members committed to attending, with many of those planning to serve as
host Committee volunteers. This is an amazing number considering the current economic climate and
the restrictions on overnight traveling that many of our organizations are experiencing. If you are still
considering attending the Forum, it is not too late. There are still two MACPP scholarships available
that will help you with the economic burden of attending a national conference. If you have never attended
Forum before, you are in for a treat. If you have attended before, then you already know the
value of the experience. If you are interested, please fill out the scholarship application and email or fax
it to my attention. These remaining scholarships will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.
Speaking of Forum, MACPP has submitted its 2009 application for mid-sized chapter of the year. A sub-committee that included Russell Pankey, Brett Wood and me, worked hard to make sure that our application was not only as good as last Year’s winning entry, but even better. The finished product looked excellent and I would like to thank Brett and Russ for their hard work on this project. Now we wait.
Attendance has been excellent at chapter meetings this year, and I would like to thank Delois Moore for her hard work and excellent programs. Our next opportunity will be the evening of June 23, when we meet for dinner and program at Chappells in North Kansas City. The program will be presented by Transportation Logistics Management (TLM) and the subject will be the management of inbound freight for government entities. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend this meeting. Help us set a new attendance record.
I would like to thank Sally Grogan for her work in bringing to our membership some excellent professional development opportunities this year. We have already had a three day Introduction to Public Procurement class, a two day CPPB preparation class and a three day Legal Aspects of Public Purchasing class. Attendance was excellent at all three classes. Sally has planned some additional classes for us for the rest of the year, so be thinking about taking advantage of these. MACPP is still subsidizing class attendance for our membership.
In closing, I would say that although I know each of you are very busy with hectic schedules to manage, please do not forget to work MACPP into your calendar. The networking opportunities and educational benefits are invaluable. Thanks and I look forward to seeing each of you at Chappells on June 23.
Sincerely,
John M. Mahin CPPO,
CPPB
President