TORONTO - Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada) and Canadian Consulting Agrologists Association (CCAA) announced today, that effective January 1, 2011, the two organizations will join forces to build a more powerful voice for the management consulting industry.

This announcement follows several months of discussion where representatives of both associations looked at ways to work together for the betterment of all management consultants, regardless of their industry focus. 

CMC-Canada’s Chief Executive Officer Glenn Yonemitsu, CMC, was pleased with the agreement, “the synergies between the two organizations, the designations, and their professions was remarkable.  We concluded that together, we could build a stronger association.” 

CMC-Canada will acquire the assets (designation, trademark, URL, website, and member records) of the CCAA and will continue to build the profile and number of professionals who hold the Certified Agricultural Consultant designation across Canada.

This transaction is consistent with one of CMC-Canada's growth strategies -- to forge alliances with other professional associations by providing access to the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation. The CMC designation focuses on raising the bar on standards in the management consulting profession, by providing the training, code of conduct, recognition, and advocacy so clients and the public can benefit from first quality advisory services. 

CCAA is a membership-driven organization of professional consultants, dedicated to providing consulting services to agricultural sectors across the world. The CCAA organization will be wound down in 2011 following the transfer of its assets to CMC-Canada.

“Our objective was to continue to grow the number of professionals who hold the CAC designation,” said Terry Betker, CAC, president of CCAA. He continued, “with the challenges going forward, the Executive felt it crucial to be part of a larger organization so we could take advantage of the opportunities that need to be pursued. When the opportunity arose for a potential merger with a like-minded, but larger organization, we moved forward aggressively.” Betker will join the CMC-Canada National Board of Directors and will chair the CAC Committee. 

This transaction provides several benefits to CCAA members: ensured future viability of the CAC designation; the potential for enhanced recognition of the CAC designation by industry and government; access to additional professional development opportunities; an expanded network of like-minded professionals; the opportunity to earn the CMC designation; and, the chance to grow awareness of the CAC designation.

The CMC designation will complement the CAC, and is currently held by specialists in many fields: finance and accounting, IT, human resources, agrology, strategy, engineering, and project management among them. CMC-Canada members are pleased to welcome the specialized experience of consulting agrologists to the organization, enhancing the existing membership.