Spotlight on Volunteers By Stephen "Skip" Kay, C.P.M. Board Director and Communications Chair	JoAnn Johnson, C.P.M. and Reba Johnsen flank President Jill Alvarez. C.P.M.
This Months Interview Johnson & Johnsen

This month’s “Spotlight on Volunteers” features the combo lineup of Johnson & Johnsen, Co-Chairs of the Membership Committee. Dinner Meeting attendees have met both JoAnn and Reba. Together they have come up with some great plans for increasing and retaining membership.

Spotlight: How long have you been volunteering?
JoAnn: I have been volunteering my time for 12 years for Girl Scouts, Spanish Trails Council, and have had tons of fun working with girls and their leaders. This is my first volunteer position for NAPM-OC and I am already having a blast. This type of work can be as fun as I make it. That’s what I like best about volunteering.
Reba: I have been volunteering off and on within the last year with Boy Scouts, Little League, and any educational programs that my children have been involved in. This is also my first time volunteering with NAPM-OC and I too am enjoying myself. It is great to work as a team with the other members of the committee each bringing new ideas and fun into the whole process.

Spotlight: Why did you choose the Purchasing profession?
JoAnn: I entered the purchasing profession from the other side of the fence in Electronic Distribution. I started my career at Electronic Supply, in Riverside. When I found that I most enjoyed problem solving, and sourcing solutions, I transferred to Product Marketing and really enjoyed it. Next, I was recruited by a customer for a buying position and went directly from electronic components to FAB products, (PCB’s & Metal.) I found that I enjoyed the challenge of the potential problems that FAB items involve.
Reba: I believe purchasing chose me as a profession. I just was at the right place at the right time and was fortunate enough to have someone take me under their wing and give me the tools and opportunity of what has become a lifetime career.

Spotlight: What was your most interesting Purchasing experience?
JoAnn: My most interesting experience was leading our development team to design VMI Backplanes for our systems at Telcom Technologies. This project required a lot of supplier partnering in the design stage and was a complete success. This led me to always making my suppliers my partners in the supply chain.
Reba: With all the mergers and acquisitions taking place most people understand what an uncomfortable position you could be in.I decided to take a different approach after my company was acquired and formed, led and facilitated what is known as the Corporate Supply Team. Our goal was to approach the supply base as a unified company rather than three separate divisions. Our first time out with our top 3 common commodities implemented an annualized savings of $700,000 against a 14.7 Million commodity base. It really brought the three divisions together as a team of professionals.

Spotlight: What NAPM activities have you been involved in as a volunteer?
JoAnn: I have only done one other volunteer activity for NAPM-OC. I worked the NAPM-OC booth at the WESCON Show last fall. I had so much fun talking to strangers all day. Tom Cole was also manning the booth that day and we had a blast. I was hooked...
Reba: This is my first time as a volunteer for NAPM.

Spotlight: How long have you co-chaired the Membership Committee?
JoAnn: Reba Johnsen and I have been co-chairing the Membership Committee for 7 whole weeks now. Reba is a great partner and we are working hard to get things going to recruit new members and see that our members are comfortable with the Dinner Meetings as well as our other many programs through NAPM.

Spotlight: What are the goals you have set for yourselves to increase Membership?
JoAnn: I guess our first goal is to set goals for the membership committee. We are already finding new ways to recruit, make our members feel comfortable and get the most out of their memberships.

Spotlight: What new and innovative plans do you have to recruit new members and retain current members?
JoAnn: Our new “innovative plan” to recruit and retain members is to make all members feel comfortable and welcome at our functions and workshops. We are doing more “one to one” orientations by having Official Greeters at every Dinner Meeting. This will make the orientation process more personal and gets new members excited about utilizing their memberships.

Spotlight: Who is/was your Mentor and how did they help guide you?
JoAnn: It’s no doubt that my mentor in purchasing has been Elaine Whittington. My first encounter with her was at an “Advanced Purchasing” workshop in the mid-1980’s. Her experiences and professionalism has been an inspiration to me. I also have a mentor at Girl Scouts, Joanne Harris. Joanne has shown me many times how to keep my cool under pressure.
Reba: My mentors have been many from the 1980’s Charlie Tibbets (Materials Manager) then into the 1990’s. Bob Truckey, Sr., (Business Owner), and my latest Renee Wright (Operations Manager). Each has brought a new awareness and opportunity for me in supply management. Oh! I would also like to mention the Sweeney’s Mike & Jim who taught me that your number one asset is your people.

Spotlight: Do you have a favorite web site?
JoAnn: My favorite website? This is so boring...but my favorite is the Wall Street Journal. This just proves that I need to get a life.
Reba: There are too many sites to narrow it down to one favorite. But my favorite search engine is Dogpile.