WHY NAPM?

While attending college, I worked part-time for a purchasing department. I had no particular direction as I attended college and I needed one. I started considering Purchasing as a profession. I looked to see if there were any purchasing classes in any of the nearby schools of higher education. I looked to see if there was any direction or particular skills that a Purchasing Manager might require. At this time, there were no courses that I could find and there were no paths that I could find that led to a career in Purchasing. All the Purchasing Agents that I met seemed to have fallen into Purchasing by accident.

I did not give up. I made the decision to get a degree in business. My first job, after college, was as a Purchasing Assistant. The fist thing that I noticed about Purchasing is that everyone is a buyer. I needed a distinction that would differentiate me, a person that considered himself to be a professional buyer, from every other person in our company that considered their selves to be buyers.

I did not immediately find an answer. It took a number of years before I found an organization that was for purchasing people. An organization created by purchasing professionals to train future purchasing professionals.

I worked on and received my C. P. M. I earned a certification that acknowledges an understanding of purchasing that the casual buyer can not know. I believe that earning a certification is important; as, I believe that it is important to never stop learning or helping others to learn.

If you are looking like I was, for an organization that can help, I want to encourage you to join our organization. We, at NAPM-Central Texas, are dedicated to increasing the professionalism of Purchasing.

KENNETH PRESCOTT BASS, C.P.M.