On June 6, 1955 the Hanover Chamber of Commerce held an exploratory meeting for the purpose of gauging the interest in the area to establish a supervisory club. Charles Kidder, the founder of a similar organization in York presented the plan to about 100 representatives of business and industry from the area. Shortly after this meeting, the following steering committee was established to organize a club.

• • E. B. Frock, Hanover Wire Cloth
• • E. J. Abendschein, Chisholm Ryder Co.
• • A. G. Ealy, Littlestown Hardware and Foundry Co.
• • P. M. Jones, Hanover Made Furniture
• • D. K. Malcolm, Revonah Spinning Mills
• • C. A. McGough, Electric Service Mfg. Co.
• • R. F. Purtell, Hanover Shoe, Inc.

This committee hired Charles Kidder as their Executive Secretary and held its first meeting on September 15, 1955 at the YWCA on Carlisle Street. October 21, 1955 was called Charter Night with 28 companies and 129 members listed. The following people were elected as the first officers of the newly formed Hanover Industrial Management Club.

• • President: Edward J. Abendschein, Chisolm-Rider Co.
• • First Vice President: Louis B. Kirkland, Doubleday and Co.
• • Second Vice President: James F. Huston, Everybody’s Publishing Co
• • Recording Secretary: Sewell Weaver, Hanover Made Furniture Co.
• • Treasurer: F. X. Rice, Utz Potato Chip C
• • Executive Secretary: Charles H. Kidder

The Charter Companies were:

• • Aero Oil Co.
• • Alwine Brick Co.
• • Autocraft Box Corp
• • Carroll Shoe Co.
• • Chisholm-Rider Co.
• • Doubleday and Co. (Currently, YES Solutions)
• • J. C. Eisenhart Wallpaper Co.
• • Everybody’s Publishing Co.
• • Fitz Water Wheel
• • P. H. Glatfelter Co.
• • Hanover Canning Co.
• • Hanover Construction Co.
• • Hanover Made Furniture
• • Hanover Tool Co.
• • Hanover Wire Cloth Div.
• • O. H. Hostetter Builder
• • Keystone Wire Cloth Co. (Currently, Gerard Daniel Worldwide)
• • Lana Lobell
• • Littlestown Hardware and Foundry Co., Inc.
• • Littonian Shoe Co.
• • Metropolitan Edison
• • Oxford Container Co. (Currently, Tim-Bar Packaging)
• • Revonah Spinning Mills
• • Sullivan Ice Cream Co.
• • Swam Electric Co.
• • Utz Potato Chip (Currently, Utz Quality Foods, Inc.)
• • D. E. Winebrenner Co.
• Y• ork County Farms

Education was considered the backbone of the organization and in the fall of 1956, the “Certified Supervisor’s Educational Program” began with classes held at Doubleday and Hanover Tool. The first class had 12 graduates and classes have been held each year with the number of class offerings increasing and the graduates reaching 100+ each year. Thousands of leaders in the area have graduated from the programs. Early leaders such as Bill Bertolet, Dick Dell, and Jack Brown were the backbone of the education program.

The scholarship program began in 1978 and we are proud that we have given a deserving student between $750 and $2000 each year since its inception. The scholarship has been supported by generous donations from members and company contributions.

Over the years, the organization has been very fortunate to host many wonderful speakers for our events. Names such as Irving R. Levine, Jack Anderson, F. Lee Bailey, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Rocky Bleier, Christine Brenneman, Ted Kennedy Jr., Winston Scott, Matt Everson, Chris Whitcomb, Benny Parsons, Brooks Robinson, Joe Patterno, Gene Krantz, and Billy Ripkin were some of the favorites. And some of our local favorites were Father James Dulaney, Grover Gouker, and “Life is Tremendous, Charlie Jones”.

Charles Kidder, our first Executive Director, was called Mr. Industrial Management and helped to start many other management clubs on the East Coast. Bill Holley, who had been President of the York Club and twice President of the Hanover Club, continued as the Executive Director of the Hanover club after the death of Charlie. These two men built the foundation of our organization.

The organization continued to expand to include leaders from all organizations and thus changed the name to Hanover Area Management Association in 2003 and became a Pennsylvania Non-profit Corporation. HAMA continues to follow its mission, “Leadership through Education” with seminars, courses, Lessons from a CEO, and many outstanding programs.