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President’s Message – November 2024
I want to congratulate our newest Board members who were recently elected at the October chapter meeting which was hosted by the Santa Rosa County School District. Congratulations to Aby Raymond (Escambia County Board of County Commissioners), incoming President; Shelby Stidham (City of Gulf Breeze), incoming Secretary; and Bryan Gabbard (Santa Rosa County School District), incoming Board Member. In a special vote at the October Chapter meeting to fill vacancies created by Board members stepping down, Wes Pavlicek (Emerald Coast Utilities Authority) was voted in as Vice President and Cindy Norton (Santa Rosa County School District) was voted in as Treasurer. And, rounding out your Board is Karen Grindle (Bay County Board of County Commissioners), Board Member. I will be on the Board as the Immediate Past President. Again, congratulations and thank you to those members stepping forward to take on a new leadership position.
Our year is coming to an end. There were a lot of great things that happened in 2024. We held a very successful Reverse Trade Show in May at Sanders Beach Corrine-Jones Resource Center in Pensacola. It was our 16th Reverse Trade Show. We had a great turnout from our supplier community as well as our membership. Look for more info to come in 2025 for our 17th annual Reverse Trade Show. The current committee is always looking for volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Aby or Wes. Just last week, we hosted the second annual golf tournament fundraiser at Marcus Point Golf Club in Pensacola. The Chapter partnered with Autism Pensacola for this great event. We had 80 players participate at this event this year. A big thank you goes out to Wes for all of his hard work on putting the event together.
NIGP has developed a ‘standard’ in which chapters can strive to follow and advance the opportunities offered to their members. Participating chapters receive a score which records their progress in achieving excellence. Once a chapter successfully meets the standard, a digital seal is issued which the chapter can prominently display to their membership on their website and social media outlets. In August, at NIGP Forum held in Charlotte, North Carolina, our Chapter was awarded the Silver Chapter – Performance Standards Seal. We have now earned Silver and Bronze. We look forward to working hard again in 2025 to earn the Gold Seal.
A reminder that your membership in the chapter is on an annual basis and begins on January 1 of each year. Current members should have received emails to renew your membership. Please renew your membership to participate in our professional development, scholarship program, mentoring program and networking opportunities. As we move into 2025 membership year, we will continue development of programs and opportunities to support you, our membership. If you are new to the profession, we hope that you will consider joining our association. Please reach out to us directly to see how membership can benefit you. Membership is limited to Public Procurement professionals and students.
I want to encourage members to evaluate your talents and strengths and identify if there are any committee or task force opportunities that you would be willing to volunteer for in 2025. We have a lot work to do this year as a chapter and we can benefit from having active volunteers. Please do not hesitate to contact one of your Board members with any questions that you may have. Let’s make this another fantastic year for your Chapter.
Finally, it has been an honor serving as your President these past two years. I want to thank my fellow board members that assisted and guided me throughout the past two years. Thank you to James Walters (City of Niceville), DeRita Mason (Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners), Wes Pavlicek (ECUA), Karen Grindle (Bay County), Amber Hammonds (Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners) and Cindy Norton (Santa Rosa Schools).
God Speed,
Bob Pacenta, NIGP-CPP, CPPB
2022-2024 President