On April 24, 1986, thirty-five public purchasing professionals from the Dallas/Fort Worth area gathered in a back room of a cafeteria on Highway 183. The purpose was to form a local support group for governmental buyers. Members of the National Purchasing Institute (NPI) Board of Directors and the NPI Executive Director, J. Nelson Slater, provided the leadership.

In an historic move, these thirty-five professionals established the very first local chapter of NPI. In the months that followed, officers were elected, dues were set and meeting dates and formats were established.

Membership grew rapidly as word spread that the Dallas/Fort Worth area had a purely public purchasing association. As members from outside the immediate DFW area joined this association, the geographic scope changed to reflect North Central Texas. Thus, the official name chosen by the group was the Public Purchasing Association of North Central Texas (PPANCT).

Since PPANCT's inception, other NPI chapters have been established. Each chapter successfully provides education, information and a much-needed means of networking for public purchasing professionals.

In 1996, PPANCT received recognition from NPI as the "National Chapter of the Year". PPANCT has also been honored with the "Achievement Award for Chapter Excellence" every year since 2000.

Our Vision: To be recognized as an association of highly trained public purchasing professionals that promotes the advancement of the purchasing profession.

Our Mission: To be a respected association that guides the public purchasing profession in a manner that promotes public trust while aggressively pursuing the professional development of it's members.