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A group of a dozen or so personnel managers who anticipated the need for a personnel organization in the Harrisburg area founded an association, called Harrisburg Area Personnel Association (HAPA), in 1963. The goal in founding HAPA was mainly to accomplish a monthly networking opportunity over breakfast. Through the years, the goals of promoting professional development and the desire to advance the interests of an emerging profession were added. The HAPA by-laws based membership at the organizational level (not individual membership) and only allowed for the top HR person in an organization to hold membership. Therefore, in 1992, a second SHRM affiliated chapter formed in the Harrisburg area, the Capital Area Society for Human Resources Management (CASHRM).
In 1998, HAPA became the Harrisburg Area Society for Human Resources Management (HASHRM) and changed its by-laws by broadening membership opportunities to include professionals “primarily engaged in providing specialized or educational services in the Human Resource field” and by allowing for individual memberships.
By the year 2000, it was apparent to members of both chapters that there was no longer a need to have two competing SHRM chapters in the Harrisburg area. Therefore, in the summer of that year, merger talks began between the chapters’ Board of Directors. The results of those talks came to a culmination on September 1, 2002, when the two Chapters became one.
Since then, our chapter has been focused on membership growth, development and providing effective tools to our group. In January of 2005 we upgraded our website to add Members Only tools including a membership search, Legal and Legislative updates and other chapter materials. This site also features an Employment Connection so our members can see career opportunities in our community.
In 2008 and we added more positions to our Board of Directors to increase membership participation in our Board. Yearly we draft Board and Chapter goals, we operate under a strategic plan and we have received the Superior Merit Chapter Award from SHRM for our Chapter every year since the chapter began in 2002.
As we move forward we continue to focus on the needs of our nearly 400 members, Human Resources partners, the business world and our Central Pennsylvania community.
MISSION
Develop Human Resource Professionals to progress in our own unique career paths;
Provide a forum of education, networking and exchange of new ideas;
Promote diversity within the membership;
Encourage members to develop partnerships beyond our chapter meetings;
Provide a focus for legislative attention to state and national human resource management issues;
Demonstrate our commitment to the Society of Human Resource Management by introducing and encouraging membership in SHRM, providing a pool of future leaders to SHRM and sharing communications between SHRM and our individual members.
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