NJPA Celebrates 40 Years of Service

Today in Staples, the National Joint Powers Alliance held an open house to celebrate the 40 years it’s been in service and to highlight some of the work they’ve been able to accomplish in the area.

The NJPA, which started as a small organization working with regional schools, has grown to a powerhouse that has over 50,000 members. Today, it took a step back to celebrate 40 years of growth, achievement, and service.

“It’s a chance to thank the region for all the support they’ve given us over the years and all the things to come in the future,” says Dr. Chad Coauette, NJPA CEO and Executive Director.

“We’re celebrating the relationships we have with our schools, our cities, and our counties in our five-county area,” says Paul Drange, Director of Regional Programs. “We’re just excited about the relationships we have with them, the services we’re providing, and we wanted to pull everyone together, being that it’s our 40^th anniversary, to celebrate those relationships.”

The NJPA works with local schools and communities to help them achieve goals they couldn’t on their own by providing training, shared services, and other resources.

“We’re excited about continuing to partner with our members,” says Coauette. “Listen to where their needs and challenges are and work with them to come up with some innovative solutions to help cities, counties, school districts, and really build on community and student success.”

While the NJPA offers services to organizations across the country, it remains committed to helping local and regional schools and businesses.

“Without our local and regional members, we wouldn’t be providing the services we are,” says Drange. “They really bring to us the ideas and innovation and we just help fuel that in a partnership that brings those to fruition.”

The open house not only celebrated the organization’s past, but looked forward to the future as the NJPA will be rebranding this summer as Sourcewell.

“We are really more focused than ever on our members,” says Travis Bautz, Director of Marketing. “We really wanted a name and a brand position that was going to demonstrate that focus.”

“Right now, this is the smallest we plan to be long into the future with positive growth projections for service,” says Coauette. “So today and now was the time to make that change.”

The NJPA will officially be known as Sourcewell starting on June 6^th.