Chapter History

Around 1997/1998 several Human Resource professionals began meeting to discuss the formation of an association of Human Resource professionals. The idea was to network with other Human Resource professionals in the McDonough area to share information regarding health insurance, compensation, EAPs, recruitment, retention, wellness programs, Risk Management, Unemployment Compensation, Workers' Compensation and other topics.

In 2009, the Greater Henry SHRM Chapter was in total disarray.  Only a handful of active members remained and came together to discuss the possibility of merging the dying chapter with the Southern Crescent chapter located in Clayton County. Fortunately, there were some who believed it could be brought back to life.

The remaining loyal Greater Henry Chapter members first identified the key people needed to revitalize the chapter: David Johnson, President; Kevin Smith, Vice President; Beverly Sanders, Membership Director and Renee Lewis, Secretary.  They began to work together, setting goals and working toward objectives to increase the membership and improve the programming. Their lofty goals included obtaining and maintaining 30 active members; create a solid speakers’ program; obtain HRCI re-certification credit for speaker topics (11 out of 12 meetings are accredited); joining the Henry County Chamber of Commerce; and developing membership packets.  They rebranded the chapter with a new name and logo (Henry Human Resources) to let people know that the chapter was moving forward. Different payment options for membership were added. And then they climbed on the social media bandwagon by joining LinkedIn and Facebook.

The hard work paid off – in 2010, the Greater Henry chapter was selected as the Chapter of the Year in the State of Georgia. The membership had grown by 200%!  Meetings grew from 10 to 40+ participants. In 2011, this dedicated group was recognized by SHRM with a Gold EXEL Award designation. The chapter now boasts over 100 members and is still growing. Our mission is not complete until every HR person in Henry County joins the network,

We invite you to participate, make new friends and colleagues. We have a variety of education and networking events for HR. Member benefits include free events, volunteer opportunities, HR articles, legal updates, HR job board, discounts, etc.