Good evening,

My name is David Fletcher and I am the new President and CEO of the Ontario Institute of the Purchasing Management Association of Canada. I want to welcome you all to tonight’s member networking event. Thanks to Brad Borg, our Member Development Coordinator at the Institute and our Program Planning Council Members for their work in organizing tonight’s event.

I am especially pleased to be able to meet and speak with Institute members and others involved in the supply chain management community this evening.

I have more than 20 years of senior management experience in professional associations. Before joining the Ontario Institute of PMAC, I was Vice President of Public Affairs for the Certified Management Accountants of Canada. Prior to this, I held senior management positions at the Professional Engineers of Ontario and the Ontario Medical Association. In these roles, I created strategic, operational and financial plans aimed at increasing the profile and influence of the management accounting, engineering and medical professions among a variety of stakeholders. These stakeholders included employers, academia, government, allied professional groups, the news media and the general public.

My goal as your new President and CEO is pretty well the same – to build the recognition and influence o the supply chain management profession. I am still learning, but what I do know about your profession is that you are on the cusp of an exciting new future. It is why I accepted the position of President and CEO of the Ontario Institute.

I very much want to be a part of shaping that future, and to apply my business and marketing skills in the best way I know how to advance your profession. Certainly the global economic crisis we face right now is daunting. The challenges posed by the credit crisis and downturn in manufacturing are severe. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear of employee layoffs and bankrupt businesses.

The next several months will test us severely, but organizations and people are resilient. In fact, as companies position themselves for recovery in the months ahead, the need for strategic supply chain management professionals will become more and more important.  Strong, lean supply chains will be the motor to restart the economy. By focusing now on process inefficiencies, companies will eventually improve their performance and come out of the recession stronger. Supply chain management practitioners will play a vital role in this area, helping organizations and Canadian industry to rebuild.

Today, expertise in multiple areas of supply chain management enables our members to see the big picture and meet their company’s strategic objectives. My job is to tell your story, and to tell it effectively. We need to communicate the full range of knowledge and level of skill that our members possess. The world needs to know this, and I want to work with you to make it a reality.

My vision is to have our members recognized as the pre-eminent supply chain management professionals in the global marketplace. I want to see employer demand for our members escalate in the years ahead. I want to see membership in the Ontario Institute increase dramatically. And I want to provide services to members that will enable them to build their value for employers and clients, and to advance their careers.

Thank you everyone, now please enjoy tonight’s activities and I look forward to speaking to each of you as the evening progresses. Please also feel free to contact me at dfletcher@ontarioinstitute.com .