The Chapter first met in 1976 in Greenville, South Carolina and was established under the umbrella of the Carolina – Virginia Affiliate when the association was called Purchasing Management Association (PMA).  The Chapter has seen the change from the PMA to the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) to the current name of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

At the start of the Chapter there was a small group of Purchasing professionals that recognized the need to meet to discuss processes, theories, etc.  The original members would pass around a basket and attendees would drop in topics of interest.  Then on meeting dates a drawing was made from the basket and they would discuss the topic that was selected.  They did not have speakers in the beginning but shared their knowledge with each other.  They had various themes that included a Homecoming Day, Christmas Party, and Wild Animal Dinner for hunters.  The main theme continues today and is encouraged that we learn through networking.

The Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) was established by the PMA in 1974.  As part of the establishment the first members of the Upper South Carolina Chapter took all four modules with all participating members passing all four modules.  The C.P.M. has been a strong statement and has established the Upper South Carolina Chapter as mentors to new professionals.

Over the years the membership numbers have fluctuated to as high as the low four hundreds.  In the 1980’s attendance ran around 50 members per meeting with the late 1980’s to early 1990’s seeing around 80% - 90% of the 100 – 125 members.  In the 1990’s the membership was approximately 325 with attendance ranging from 50 to 70 members per meeting.  Since 2000, Greenwood and Golden Corner Chapters were established and some membership moved to those chapters.  The membership since 2001 has been between 100 and 150 with attendance holding at an average of 20% of the membership numbers.

Patricia Knighting remembers that the meetings were met with great excitement and the camaraderie was felt throughout the group.  We used to have at least 100 people in attendance back in the 1980’s.  Back then we were allowed to have an open bar where drinks were $2.00 and soft drinks $1.00, supplied by different suppliers, advertising their business along with hosting the bar.  David Mason also remembers the networking that went on from 5:30 to 6:00.  That seemed to change when the bar was discontinued.  Suzie stated that we worked hard at bringing in the best speakers we could find to cover subjects that would inspire our purchasing organization. When she first started coming to the meetings they only had men speakers.  She told Ray Overstreet, who was president at that time that she felt we needed to bring in some strong women speakers.  He said fine and assigned her to find and to bring in the speakers.

Anthony Napoli remembers that door prizes were always a part of each meeting.  In fact, he won the ISM Purchasing Handbook at the first meeting that he attended.  The door prizes came from various sources; member companies, suppliers, and the Chapter.  In 1997, Anthony proposed the $30.00 educational certificate to reimburse the winner for any purchase of ISM educational material purchased.  In 2006, the door prizes were defined by the Board to include the Business Card drawing for a free meal at the next attended meeting, the 50/50 drawing to support the Greenville Technical College Endowment Fund, and the $30.00 educational certificate.

Meeting Places have included the Colonial Court on Wade Hampton, Ye Olde Fireplace on Pleasantburg Drive, Phoenix on Pleasantburg Drive, The Holiday Inn on Augusta Road and I-85, Crowne Plaza on Roper Mountain Road and Congaree Road, Ramada Inn on Church Street, Embassy Suites on Verde Blvd, Marriott on I-85 and Pelham Road, and Hilton on Haywood Road.

Past Presidents

The Outstanding Purchasing Professional (TOPP) Award

The TOPP Award was established and first awarded in 1991.  It is given to a member that has demonstrated a level of achievement and participation in the Upper SC Chapter (Board of Directors, committee chair, et cetera).  The criteria for the award are holding positions of leadership and/or exceptional service, regular attendance at Chapter meetings, recommendation by at least one person in the Chapter, and length of membership in Chapter (minimum of two years).

William C. Erwin Memorial Award

The William C. Erwin Memorial Award was established after the death of Bill Erwin in 1992.  It is presented to a member each year for their continuing service based on the number of years of continuous membership in the Upper South Carolina Chapter.  Additional criteria includes past service on the Chapter’s Board of Directors, and Chapter committees, regular attendance at Chapter meetings, regular attendance at ISM-CV Quarterly meetings, Corporate support by employer, C.P.M. designation, and comments by nominator.

Biography: William C. Erwin, C.P.M.

William (Bill) Erwin was a driving force in the Upper SC Chapter.  He was a P25 pilot.  He worked for Greenville City as their Purchasing Manager for many years.   Back in 1974 the Purchasing Management Association (now the Institute for Supply Management) created and released the first nationally accepted certification, Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.), in the Purchasing field.  He was in the initial group of Purchasing Professionals from the upstate that attained their C.P.M. designation.  He was the Chapter President in 1982 – 1983.  In 1978, he created and started teaching the C.P.M. Review Program through Greenville Technical College's Adult Continuing Education division.  Patricia Knighting remembers Bill as a great mentor, who also taught the CPM classes, with all of his great stories and his great logic.  She remembers taking the C.P.M. exams and they were very hard.  There were not that many C.P.M.'s in the country at the time and very few passed all 4 the first time.  Bill knew every person that did have their C.P.M.  I remember he had a different belt buckle for every day and he had a story behind each one.  The award was created after his passing in 1992 to honor all that Bill did for the Upper SC Chapter and the Purchasing Profession.

Upper South Carolina Chapter Logo

In 1996 the Board of Directors wanted to update the Chapter logo from the “Palmetto Tree” to something more representative of the Chapter.  A contest was held and several designs were submitted for consideration.  The winning design was submitted by Brian R. Barron, C.P.M. and the announcement was made at the May 1997 meeting.  The logo was later updated in 2004 to its current design while still retaining its original concept.

Hosting ISM-CV Quarterly Meetings

In the mid-1990’s and with the efforts of the Board or Directors and Charles Gill the Upper South Carolina Chapter hosted its first ISM-CV Quarterly meeting.  At the time Charles was on the ISM-CV Board.  Since then the Chapter has hosted the quarterly meeting a few times with good attendance for each event.

ISM-CV Board Educational Meetings

In the late 1990’s the Board of Directors have participated in the ISM-CV training sessions for all Board Members.  These sessions were originally held in Greensboro, NC and were later moved to Belmont, NC.  Several Upper SC members have been involved in teaching other Board Members the ins and outs of managing a chapter.

Scholarship Fund

The scholarship fund with Greenville Technical College through the efforts of the Upper South Carolina Chapter Board, spearheaded by Ron Huber and the Board of ISM – Carolina – Virginia (ISM – CV).  The fund was established in 1994 with an initial donation of $3,000.00 with continuing donations resulting in a total of $15,000.00.  ISM – CV contributed $2,100.00 for four years and the Chapter contributed the balance.  The last payment was made in June 1999.  Greenville Tech utilizes the interest earned from the fund to provide support to students in the Supply Management program.

The William C. Erwin Endowment was started in 1995 in recognition for his contributions to the Chapter over his many years in the profession.  Funding for this endowment is accumulated at each Chapter meeting through the creation of the 50/50 drawing which was started 1997.  Members have the option to voluntarily participate at each Chapter meeting by purchasing one or more $1.00 tickets at the registration table.  The drawing presents the winning ticket with 50% of the total donations.  At the end of each Chapter year the total of monies collected and with scholarship money received from ISM-CV, are sent to the Greenville Technical College Endowment Fund.

Web-site

In 1998, President, Anthony Napoli proposed to the Board of Directors to create a Web-site for the Chapter.  David Hendrix became the first Technology Chair and created the Chapter’s web-site which remained until redesigned. The original site had money as a background with a rotating dollar sign that you clicked on to enter the site.   The Chapter became the first one in ISM-CV to create and utilize a web-site for communications, public relations exposure, and education.  In 2001, the site was redesigned by David Hendrix to a simpler entry page with our name and logo.  In June 2004, the Board out-sourced the web-site design and maintenance to Stephanie Hobbs owner of Pixel & Paper Designs.  She re-designed and updated the web-site to represent the change from NAPM to ISM.  In August 2006, the site was updated to add additional pages that included: an online meeting registration form, a seminar registration form, and a separate membership page.  In January 2007, the site was updated again to include the Supplier’s Night registration form and additional pages to support the event.

Supplier Night

This event was established as a fund raising program in 1997 and up until 2000 the event was held in the month of January.  In 1999 it was moved by the Board to March and coordinate it with Purchasing Month.  In 1999, David Harlan created a packet of information that included: a formal procedure, timeline, forms, and a supplier sign-up packet for use by the Supplier Night Committee.  It is continuing to be used today and has been updated as needed.  Over the years we have supplier participation go from ten to as many as thirty-six with many returning year after year.  Complimentary tables are offered to Greenville Technical College, The Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and the Carolina Minority Supplier Development Council.

Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce

The Chapter entered into a partnership with the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce in 1996 with the participation in the creation in the BuyUpstate web-based site to communicate corporate needs to the business community.  Anthony Napoli, President represented the Chapter and coordinated the efforts with Chamber President/CEO, David Brown and Chamber Small Business Director, Yvonne Simpson.  A survey was created and sent to the Chapter membership for information relating to product needs, technology capacity, Minority/Women-owned Business programs, etc.

Golden Corner Chapter Organized

In 2001, a group of members from the Upper South Carolina Chapter left to start a new chapter called the Golden Corner Chapter in the Seneca area. The Upper South Carolina Chapter supported this move through a generous donation of monies to help Golden Corner start up and function. Over the next several years the two chapters worked together to enhance the purchasing organization in the Upstate of South Carolina. David Carver worked closely with Clemson University to bring Supply Management into their curriculum and students participated in the 2008 Supplier Night.  Unfortunately, the growth of membership in the Seneca area never materialized and the Golden Corner Chapter closed its operations in 2008 and its membership moved back to the Upper South Carolina Chapter. While we are saddened by the loss of the chapter, we are glad to welcome its members back to the fold of the Upper South Carolina Chapter.

This history was compiled by Anthony Napoli with input from others (see below) to document some of the events that have shaped the Upper South Carolina Chapter and to allow for a continued record of achievement by the Chapter.  This is a dynamic document that will be updated annually for adding new events, new presidents, and award winners.

Information provided by:

David Carver
Stephanie Hobbs
Patricia (Suzie) Knighting
David Mason
Jim Micler
Paul Morrow
Anthony Napoli

Created: November 2008
Last Update: January 2009