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A History of the Business and Professional
Exchange (BPE)
In May, 1990, Dale Hinshaw started hosting, in his
office, a small group of his professional friends who were looking for
employment. He facilitated the activity in a casual atmosphere without
any set meeting date or time. The main topic of discussion amongst these
professionals was job search strategies. They also exchanged employment
leads.
Not long after, two prominent Indianapolis area
individuals, Ray Mitchell and Peter Johnson, joined Dale and decided that
this informal group should meet on a more formal basis and treat the
search for employment amongst the folks who met with the same commitment
that one would have if it were a job. They chose Business & Professional
Exchange - BPE as the name for this group. The back room at Denny's
Restaurant in Castleton quickly became the meeting site. Every Monday
morning at 7:00 a.m., a growing number of professionals, dressed in
business attire, met to network, share information on positions they
sought, and to share job leads and resources they had used.
As the years passed, BPE outgrew Denny's, moved to
Shapiro's restaurant on West 86th street in Indianapolis, then
to the Marten House further East, until it now meets at St. Luke Methodist
Church near the intersection of 86th and Meridian streets for
its North side meetings. As the concept of professionals helping other
professionals and, in turn, helping themselves, find new employment
opportunities, other locations developed. Today, BPE has chapters on
Indianapolis’ South side and in Bloomington and Lafayette, Indiana.
While BPE was establishing itself, the early leaders purposely avoided
being church sponsored as they wanted to differentiate themselves by
focusing on self help versus being just another support-type group.
BPE started with a small group that grew rapidly
through word of mouth and coverage by the local press. The 90’s was a
time when the various industries in the United States were going through a
major restructuring of the white collar workforce through what was
euphemistically called "delayering." The result was a significant number
of displaced managers and professionals who needed to find employment for
the first time in their lives. The existing employment security system
did not have the requisite experience to provide meaningful job search
assistance to this population of professionals. The same was true of
both the State and federally funded employment and training systems. The
professional job-seeking population was not on anyone’s priority list.
To Ray, Peter, and Dale, it soon became obvious that
they were dealing with a ‘special needs’ population. They continued to
hear that a significant number of candidates were being screened out of
employment opportunities because they lacked computer skills or some other
basic skill set. With a surplus of candidates in the mid-90’s, it was
easier for employers to find technical reasons to reject these applicants
than it was than to interview a large number of applicants.
Once they determined the problem, they met to develop
and subsequently made a proposal to the Indianapolis Private Industry
Council (PIC) asking for assistance in providing computer skills training
and other services to their BPE members. The result was the co-funding
of what later became known as a Recareerment Center. The center was
funded by both the Indianapolis Private Industry Council and the Circle 7
(now Interlocal) Private Industry council, which had responsibility for
the counties adjacent to Indianapolis. Arrangements were made with Ivy
Tech to provide computer training and other support under contract to the
PIC's. Originally the center was housed at an Indianapolis area United
Auto Workers facility and later, moved into its own building. Currently
many of these services are being offered through the Work One Center in
Fishers, Indiana.
From its inception, BPE has operated with no paid
staff and was governed and operated by its members and a small core of
dedicated volunteers. BPE became well known in the community through
contacts made by BPE volunteers with various institutions and prominent
area business leaders and by significant press and TV coverage. They
also established working relationships with the State Employment
Securities system, the Private Industry councils, the Indianapolis Chamber
of Commerce, the Economic Development Community, professional human
resource organizations, and others resulting in greater opportunities for
BPE members.
The BPE model of service to its members, today
sixteen years later, is basically the same as was created by Dale, Ray,
Peter, and their friends. Even though many years have passed, the
organization continues to serve hundreds of executives, managers, and
professionals each year. The energy behind BPE and its primary mission
continuously strives to maintain the significant external relationships it
developed early on as it continues provide a source of candidates to
Indianapolis area business and industry. In doing so, it provides
service to its members. |
