A History of Leadership
The Minneapolis Chapter has a long and distinguished history within the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and is routinely ranked as one of the top chapters in the world. On October 14, 1919, a group of 37 men met in Buffalo, New York to form the first national organization for the accounting profession: the National Association of Cost Accountants (NACA). Harry A. Bullis of Minneapolis was one of the original members of this organization, which later became the IMA. Mr. Bullis was employed by Washburn Crosby Milling Company (predecessor to General Mills) and served as President of the NACA from 1932-1933. In June of 1921, the Twin Cities were awarded a chapter charter with 18 local members. At the first meeting held September 22, 1921, Mr. Bullis was elected as the chapter's first President. There were 33 members in attendance that night and the dinner charge was $0.75!
Fast Forward to Today
Our Chapter has over 600 members providing leadership to the Twin Cities and surrounding business/academia communities. We are from all different stages of our professional careers; from a student to a professor, a bookkeeper to a CFO, our members serve the Twin Cities in all capacities. September 2021 marked our chapter's 100th anniversary and we continue to strive forward of this significant milestone.
Over 60% of our members have earned the CMA credential. In fact, our members have over 600 combined professional credentials with the CMA and CPA being most prevalent. That's a lot of Accounting & Finance knowledge; our members earned over 4,000 credit hours of IMA continuing professional education in 2019. We host dinner meetings, social events, tours, regional conferences and seminars in the local area. There are also opportunities to attend IMA webinars remotely over the lunch hour for free.
There is no need to pursue the CMA or CSCA to be part of our organization. The networking, camaraderie, collective knowledge and other benefits are a contributing reason why others join our organization. We just ask that each member live by the IMA's core values and be a positive role model for those that you serve.
The Story of Us
Any success our Chapter has ever had is the direct result of our members. We've also been fortunate to have engaged volunteers serving on the board. OB4S is a motto that Minnesota' own Jason Hunt elaborates on within his leadership book, The Other Side: "Others Before Self" in the spirit of service to those around us. This is something that we can all apply in life and be a leader at any level of our careers or personal lives.
Joining Our Chapter
There are IMA "unaffiliated members" in the surrounding community that we aren't aware of. This is to respect your personal privacy. Most of the time, people are simply unaware of the benefits of choosing an affiliation (as was the case for me).
If you would like to join our chapter, log into imanet.org, click on
myProfile and look under Management Summary for a link to request a "Chapter Transfer". Then select the "Minneapolis Chapter". Going forward, you will receive our newsletters and event invitations. We want to be a part of your success story just as much as we appreciate you contributing to that of our local community.