In the mid 1970’s the Northwest Indiana Personnel Association (NIPA) was formed with a handful of members who primarily held jobs with the title of Personnel Administrator, Office Manager, and Personnel Clerk among others.  The first chapter president was W. Dean Lewis of Gary National Bank and on April 6, 1977, NIPA was accepted for membership by the American Society of Personnel Administration (ASPS) headquartered in Ohio.  At that time, the local chapter of NIPA was accepted with a total of fourteen regular and nine Associate members.

Over the next ten years, the chapter experienced moderate growth in membership and during this time, the name was changed to ASPA of Northwest Indiana.  In September 1987, the incoming Board of Directors decided to make a change in the focus of the organization in order to expand the membership.  The new vision was to increase the chapter’s commitment to providing professional development of Human Resource professionals in the surrounding areas.  Monthly programs were opened to non-chapter members, including those in another organization called the Calumet Area Personnel Association.  CAPS membership was primarily HR Professionals from Industrial companies in the Northwestern portion of the state and from Illinois.  ASPA and CAPA put on the first annual joint program with a large crowd attending and plenty of networking.

In 1988, the Board of Directors made the decision to focus on enhancing the programs to include workshops, conferences and seminars,  door prizes, gifts for speakers, and new meeting locations were just a few of the changes implemented.  In addition, by-laws were developed including specific policies for membership, board member terms, job descriptions for board positions, and many other improvements regarding board governance.

In 1989, a significant event took place.  The American Society of Personnel changed their name and began to work on changing the organization image in keeping with the new direction of the Human Resource field.  The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) was announced.  SHRM recognized that personnel professionals were making the transition to management and their responsibilities were encompassing many more functions in addition to administration.

The 90’s brought continued rapid growth, membership reaching 100 by 1992.  The growth of the chapter seemed to follow the growth of the economy in Northwest Indiana and more senior level practitioners were joining the organization.  Various members began to pursue the Professional in Human Resource Managers (PHR) and Senior Professional in Human Resource Managers (SPHR) certification through the national SHRM organization,  The relationship between the national organization continued to strengthen as members joined both the local chapter and the national organization for twice the benefit.  The certification was, and is, seen as one of a kind and employers have recognized the value of the PHR/SPHR credential.

A combination of new board members, more chapter publicity, a stepped up focus on membership, recruiting, and quality of programs led to unprecedented growth in members.  The growth continued through the Millennium with membership approaching 200.  A strategic plan developed in 1996 provided the guidance to propel the chapter into the future- a future that appeared quite bright.  The budget reached a record level as SHRM NWI was being recognized as one of the major chapters in Indiana.  The annual conference was initiated in 1999 attracting more than 150 participants.  The success of the annual conference allowed the chapter to provide SHRM National Memberships and Indiana State Conference registrations as prizes at monthly programs.

The NWI SHRM chapter continues to make progress in the 20th century. The chapter has achieved Superior Merit through the National SHRM Chapter each year and in 2008 applied for the Pinnacle Award based on the initiative developed to partner with a non profit for a year for mentoring and collaboration.  A strategic planning session in 2008 established some new board initiatives including increased involvement of committees to include members that were not on the board, new areas of focus such as partnerships, communication and board development, and increased emphasis on membership.  In addition, in 2008 a new Chapter Administrator was chosen to support the work of the chapter.  Board membership has been diversified to assure good representation of Porter and Lake County as well as the business and industry represented.  As baby boomers continue to move toward retirement, the board is working to assure strong leadership for the future health of the chapter.  A very successful conference in 2009, allowed the board the opportunity to research and select a new vendor for a redesign of the local website that would be more user friendly and would more interesting to navigate.

Chapter Hall of Presidents

1976-77  W Dean Lewis, Gary National Bank
1977-78  Joseph D. Daly, Bank of Indiana
1978-80  George W. Kopf, Jr. Prudential Insurance
1980-81  Michael A. Danko, Ross Clinic
1981-83  Theodore R. Prang, Indiana Federal
1983- 85 Paula Krebes, Southlake Center for Mental Health
1985- 87 Henrietta Smith, Calumet National Bank
1987-89  Raymond Buckley, Valparaiso University
1989-90  Mark Zimmerman, Indiana Federal
1991-92  Randy Stahl, Phelps Holding Company
1993-94  Mark Zimmerman, Indiana Federal
1995       Joan Murphy, INB Banking Company North
1996-99  Jeff Deal, The Loomis Group
2000-01  Guy Staska, Sand Ridge Bank
2002-03  Risa Kinney, Alverno Clinical Labs
2004-06  Ellen DeMartinis, Opportunity Enterprises
2006-08  Chrisanne Christ, Centier Bank
2008-10  Desila Rosetti, Organizational Development Solutions