NonProfit Resources, Inc. (NPR), an association management company (AMC) located in Glenwood Springs, CO announced today the sale of its client accounts to AMPED Association Management, an AMCI-accredited company headquartered in Madison, WI with offices in Washington, DC. The sale comes after an announcement earlier this year that the owners, Stan Orr, FASAE, CAE, and Cindy Challis Orr, plan to retire at the end of 2019 after more than 70 years of combined service to the association management profession, including 24 years at the helm of NPR, the company they founded in 1995.

When they started thinking about closing their doors, Stan sought advice from many in the industry, including several ASAE Fellows, of which he has been a member since 1994. Among these was Lynda Patterson, FASAE, CAE, owner of AMPED.

“As our discussions became more frequent, I realized that Lynda’s management approach mirrored our own,” said Stan. “the cultures were a perfect match.”  

“We complement each other well,” says Patterson. “After talking with Stan and Cindy and learning more about their AMC and clients, it became clear just how similar we were in both our business philosophy and the culture we had each grown within our companies. Integrating NPR means more than strengthening our client mix; it also means expanding our geographic location and benefitting from the unique talents of the NPR staff.”

Cindy added, “We feel extremely fortunate to have found AMPED and see them as a perfect fit for the culture of our staff. We recognize how critically important culture is for a successful sale, not only of staff but the culture that exists within our clients. The biggest difference is that AMPED is a larger company than ours. While some might fear our clients will be swallowed up, we see within Lynda’s organization a passionate, professional staff that will take our clients and grow them to new heights.”  

The Orrs had been warned that the sale of their company could take a year or more to accomplish.  The hard part wasn’t selling the company, it was the transition period needed to successfully pass on their clients to a new AMC.

According to Stan, “That is the difficult part. The devil is in the details if you want your clients to transition as smoothly as possible. But honestly, we have felt comfortable from the start knowing Lynda and her team place the same level of importance on culture that we do. That is proving to be a key to success.”

Orr went on to say that he is unsure how difficult it is for an organization to leave one AMC for another, because, according to him, “Lynda’s approach is total transparency, and she deploys a wonderful stop gap to ensure a seamless move through a process AMPED calls Integrated Management. Overnight, our staff bandwidth increased significantly even though the passing of the baton is still six months away.”

His advice? Culture comes first. Engage your clients at a strategic level. Make sure the volunteer leaders understand how important culture is, and make sure you bring a new AMC to them with a proven track record. “And cross your fingers that you find an AMC like AMPED.”

While they are stepping away from the day-to-day activities of managing organizations, Stan says he will “continue to be active in the profession through other endeavors.”

“We plan to travel, spend time with grandkids, and, interestingly enough, get reacquainted with each other,” he said.

AMPED will maintain the office and staff team in Glenwood Springs, CO and has already begun the process of integrating NPR operations with AMPED’s in Madison, WI, Washington, DC and other remote offices.