In the summer of 1997, Tami Smyrski, who was the contingency planner for Raymond James, organized an informal meeting of other contingency planners in the Bay area to explore the interest in forming a formal organization. They met once or twice more before she resigned her position. Bay Area Contingency Planners Coalition (BACPC) was adopted as the group's name. Karen Haider took over the contingency planner position in February of 1998 and inherited her notes and mailing list.

Meetings continued throughout 1998; officers were elected in April of 1998. After considering affiliating with ACP, the group decided to organize formally as a nonprofit organization, which was accomplished in the summer of 1998. In 1999 BACPC joined the Association of Continuity Planners and changed its name to the Greater Tampa Bay Chapter of ACP (GTBACP) and Jim Serina of TECO was elected as President of GTBACP.

Today, the GTBACP has more than 65 members, representing a diverse group of businesses and industries in the Tampa Bay Area. We hold monthly meetings with a focus on education. Meeting topics range from tours of the National Weather Service in Ruskin and the Pinellas County EOC to roundtable discussions about standards and guidelines within the business continuity management industry.

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