It all began 30 years ago this year with just 17 trail blazers—the first community managers to earn the Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) designation, the world's most respected credential in association management. More than 2,200 professionals have earned the PCAM since that first class, including 157 between April 2011 and April 2012. As the number of common-interest communities has grown, so too has the number of professionals in the field, now estimated at close to 60,000.

"Two thousand is not a huge number because it's not an easy achievement—and it shouldn't be," said Kathryn Danella, president of Community Associations Institute (CAI), who was awarded her PCAM in 1993. "It's a whole lot more than just walking on stage at the CAI Annual Conference, shaking hands and smiling for the camera. That's wonderful recognition, but earning the PCAM is a serious personal commitment that requires time, hard work, diligence and determination. That's why the PCAM is so special and valuable—both to the individuals who earn it and the management profession at large."

"I feel like it's the master's degree for community association managers," said Stephen Bupp, PCAM of Condominium Venture, Inc., in Columbia, Md. and one of the first professional managers awarded the designation in 1982.
"We applaud all of those who have earned the PCAM, especially those who led the way in the early 1980s," said CAI chief executive officer Thomas Skiba, CAE. "They blazed a trail that others have followed for 30 years, and that thousands more will follow in the years ahead. They set standards of expertise and professionalism that PCAMs continue to set—and exceed—today."

The PCAM is the highest and most prestigious credential for community association managers. The Association Management Specialist (AMS) is the second tier of professionalism for community association managers. The first tier is the Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) credential, administered by the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM).

CAI's designation programs were established to elevate the level of professionalism in the community association marketplace, a dynamic segment of the U.S. housing market that now encompasses more than 62 million Americans in almost 315,000 association-governed communities.

Learn more about the PCAM and other CAI designations www.caionline.org/designations. Visit www.nbccam.org to learn more about the CMCA.