CHAPTER HISTORY
Now exceeding 1,500 members, it's hard to believe membership in Metropolitan St. Louis PMI founding Chapter totaled only 25 when the organization formed in 1994.
To form a chapter, 25 individuals must be willing to join and pay their dues. A small group of the original 25 Metropolitan St. Louis PMI Chapter charter members prepared a charter document, PMI approved, and the chapter was formed. The effort was spearheaded by Dottie Burton. Charter members Eric Moyerman was our first President and Miles Barnett was our second president.
The Metropolitan St. Louis PMI Chapter initially held meetings in conjunction with a Cost-Estimating organization in the historic Engineers Club building in St. Louis. According to Barnett, "They had a nice facility, and had a regular program set up, meeting quarterly. We partnered with them as both organizations benefited from the cost savings of sharing a meeting and the sharing of ideas which came from having more people attending."
The format from the beginning was a dinner meeting with some kind of program or presentation. The meetings have typically been held once a month, September through June.
The Chapter expanded into its own meeting space, meeting at the old Joe Hannon's Restaurant, and eventually settling into the Sheraton Plaza at Westport. The Chapter later chose the Clayton Plaza Hotel, looking for a more centrally located venue.
As membership continued to grow year over year, our Board began to look for other means to offer value to our members. We built upon the idea of having multiple venues for the meetings and first began meetings in St. Charles County and the metro east. We introduced additional breakfast meetings and lunch meetings to add flexibility to the new venue sites. In addition, we added ‘After-hours’ networking events, Young Professional Group meeting, Toastmaster’s club, and a mentoring program.
In 2013, we were recognized as the Chapter of the Year for Category III sized chapters, for teamwork provided in 2012. And in the years which followed, won chapter awards for Member Services and Collaboration and Outreach, all presented by PMI. We continued to grow each year, offering more opportunities to our members, which numbered over 2,000, until early 2020.
In 2020, we, like most PMI Chapters worldwide, had to adjust to the Covid-19 era. We utilized virtual meetings for our ‘monthly meetings’ and for the monthly Board meetings. It is difficult to maintain enthusiasm in a total virtual world and we saw our membership numbers plummet.
In 2024 we celebrated our 30th Anniversary! In 2025, we find ourselves in a rebuilding phase – but we need you! We need members who will tell us what they need to advance their careers! And we need members who are willing to volunteer their time to make us happen! PMIMSL remains a 100% Volunteer organization. We need YOU to grow!
Please consider what gifts you have to offer and reach out to any Board member listed on our ‘Board of Directors’ page. Or send an email to our VP of Volunteers at volunteers@pmimsl.org.
We look forward to seeing you at future Chapter events!
