Founded in 1956 as National Personnel Associates, NPA has had many major milestones on its way to becoming the worldwide leader in split-fee placements.

Early 1950s. Neil Hibbard of recruiting firm Marker-Hibbard Personnel in Los Angeles, California, needed more quality candidates to fill positions in the fast-growing Southern California economy. Mr. Hibbard wrote to other employment agencies in the U.S. and encouraged them to participate with him on a split-fee basis in order to better meet demand. As agencies agreed to cooperate with him, they were added to a list that was circulated to all other cooperating agencies.

1956. On November 30, 1956, 35 agencies met and formally established the contingent recruitment network. By December, the recruiter split network had 61 members operating in 25 states and the District of Columbia.

1966. The NPA News was published with job orders from participating firms filling more than 50 pages per month.

1968. The first Canadian NPA members were added to the split fee recruiter network.

1971. NPA opened its Printing–Distribution Center in Pittsburgh, PA.  This operation distributed over 100,000 items per month.

1986. Acquisition of the EMF Super Sorter allowed NPA to customize hardcopy packages mailed to members based on their specialty.

1996. NPA began to expand its focus as an international recruiting organization with the addition of members outside of North America, particularly in Asia and Australia/New Zealand.

1997. The NPA candidate and job sharing site was awarded a listing inComputerworld’s “Top 100 Most Effective Internet Applications.”

2006. NPA celebrated its first 50 years of success as a worldwide recruiting network.