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PORTLAND AIR CARGO ASSOCIATION HISTORY NOTES
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During September, October and November, 1960 a group of seven airlines and freight forwarder representatives met almost weekly over coffee at Hillares to discuss the possibility of organizing an air cargo association in Portland. Occasionally they were joined by three of four other airline representatives, when they were free.
This group was led by Max White (District Sales Manager of SAS in Portland) who we recognize as our first President of PACA. They decided to ask all carriers and forwarders to send a representative to an 8:30am breakfast meeting at the Congress Hotel on April 5 to decide whether a cargo association should be organized. Seventeen attended the meeting and decided we should proceed. Two committees were appointed, one to develop a Constitution and By-Laws and the other to nominate a slate of officers to be elected. Both committees were to report at a May 3, 1961 meeting. Wally Russel of PAA and Bob Hendricks of Flying Tiger Line were designated as Co-Chairmen to develop a program for the May meeting and sign up Charter Members.
On May 3, 1961, nineteen people attended an 8:00 am breakfast meeting conducted by Wally Russel of PAA. The report of the nominating committee was read to the group and they elected the first set of officers for PACA - President, 1st. V-P, 2nd V-P and Secretary-Treasurer. The committee appointed to develop Constitution and By-Laws reported the results of their work. Their Constitution and By-Laws were adopted by the group to be effective on May 8, 1961. It was reported we had 20 Charter Members signed up. The next meeting was set for June 8 at the Congress Hotel. Our first formal speaker at a meeting was Harold Fritzler of Tektronix on July 12, 1961.
The first annual Air Cargo Seminar was conducted on March 3 & 4, 1970 in cooperation with Seattle Air Cargo Association and Portland State University Department of Continuing Education. Sixty-eight attendees from Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Manhattan Beach, California, New York, Vancouver, B.C., Washington D.C., Marietta, Ga., Oklahoma City and Seattle registered for the two-day meet. In 1970 we had grown to 62 members representing 40 different companies.
In August, 1976, Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Oregon Corporation Commissioner. In October, 1976 the Organizational meeting was held to complete the procedures necessary for PACA to become a non-profit corporation. About 8 air cargo seminars have been held since the first one in 1970.
We will complete our Silver Anniversary year in May, 1985 with our Fun Night on May 8. We now have over 100 members and get about 75 to 80 in attendance at our regular meetings. On special meeting nights, such as our Auction or Fun Night we will have more than 100 in attendance. PACA has made a lot of progress in 25 years and it appears we will continue to grow and improve in the years to come, especially if we can maintain the caliber of leadership and Board members we have had in our Anniversary Year of 1985.
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