Florida Society of Certified Public Managers®

By Jerry McCarthy, CPM
Jerry.McCarthy@dot.state.fl.us

The Florida Center for Public Management held its Certified Public Manager® Level VIII Graduation in August at the Lakeland Center in Lakeland, Florida. The reception was a great success and well received by the CPM Graduates and guests. I would like to thank Dr. Ada Burnette and Fred Levinson for coordinating the event with Dan Vicker. They also had a booth set up during the Level 8 Graduation recruiting new FSCPM Members and selling our FSCPM merchandise. Fred and Ada wanted me to let everyone know how much they appreciated the efforts of Liz Klaber (SunCoast Chapter) for assisting at our booth and recruiting new members. Great job, Liz, you were essential to the success of the event!

The Graduation was also a huge success, thanks to Shawn Baldwin and her staff at the Florida Center for Public Management. This was the largest CPM Graduation Class, with 357 graduates from State, County and Local agencies. More than 800 people attended the graduation including families, dignitaries and other previous CPM graduates. The Presentation of the Colors was performed by the Polk County Sheriff's Office, then Fred Levinson, Christina Taylor and I presented the Florida Askew Award to the Florida Department of Children and Families Florida State Hospital. As President of the FSCPM, I congratulated the 357 graduates for their hard work to complete the CPM Program. I also congratulated and thanked Shawn Baldwin and her staff at the Florida Center for Public Management for their hard work over the years in teaching the Florida CPM Program. I also had the honor of reading the Proclamation by Florida Governor Charlie Crist declaring the week of August 25-29, 2008 as Certified Pubic Manager® Recognition Week. This week was selected so that the CPM Graduates can be recognized for their achievement. I would like to thank Jan Wright who worked with the Governor’s Office to bring this proclamation about. I next introduced Fred Levinson and Christina Taylor who presented plaques to the Florida Askew nominees.

The registration form for the 19th Annual FSCPM Symposium and Awards Luncheon, which will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Altamont Springs on January 22 and 23, 2009, has been placed on the FSCPM web site. Christine Taylor and her Symposium Committee have done a great job. There are many good speakers who will be talking on Leadership. Please visit the www.fscpm.org website for additional information.

The AACPM Conference in Ohio was a good opportunity to meet with AACPM members from other states to see what they are doing in their states on topics such as Continuing Education, dues, benefits of members and web sites. Joanne Robertson displayed a power point presentation that she and her committee had prepared on the 2009 AACPM Conference that will be held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida. The presentation was very motivating and many of the attendees said that they would attend the AACPM Conference in Orlando. The 2009 AACPM Conference in Florida will be held on September 18 through September 22, 2009.

This has been a very busy year for the Society, and we are accomplishing all of our goals. Our membership has increased by almost 10%. We have added a new Chapter and are having many FSCPM events throughout the State of Florida. I would like to thank the FSCPM Officers, Board of Directors and Committees for their hard work in making this happen. I would like every Chapter this year to obtain the Chapter Effectiveness Award.

© Copyright 2008, American Association of Certified Public Managers®