ACG Tampa Bay is Now an Approval Chapter ... ACG Tampa provides high quality programs and resources focused on corporate growth best practices and the opportunity to develop relationships with the area’s top private equity groups, corporate executives, financial intermediaries, attorneys, accountants, commercial and investment bankers, valuation specialists, and other professionals.
As a premier professional organization, ACG Tampa Bay seeks to maintain a membership balance of high-level business leaders in these roles. Therefore, we accept only members who meet our core business criteria and intend to further our chapter objectives and professionalism.
Membership Sponsorship:
All new members must be recommended and sponsored by one or more ACG Tampa members and be approved by the ACG Tampa Membership Committee, based on our published criteria. Potential members are encouraged to attend a chapter event and discuss membership with board members, the Chapter Executive, or the Membership Committee in advance of completing an application. Applicants must be sponsored by one or more ACG Tampa members in good standing, who must submit a letter of recommendation, requested by the Chapter Executive upon submittal of the application. Should a potential member not know an ACG Tampa member to sponsor him or her, then that person may request an interview with the Membership Committee, who will then present the application to the Approval Committee to make a decision on whether to accept or decline the application.
Membership application process:
Application to ACG is completed online.
Applicants have an advantage when they have an ACG Tampa sponsor, letter of recommendation and meet any of the following criteria:
· C-level executive of established company with $5M+ revenue (or funding)
· Partner in established Private Equity firm
· Senior-level representative from a company that is a paid sponsor of ACG Tampa (must be an annual sponsor, or CC sponsor)
· Senior-level service provider to firms meeting the preceding criteria
Other application factors to be considered in application decisions:
· Purpose of joining ACG Tampa and expected support of ACG Tampa’s mission and vision
· Current level and role within their company
· Business within core ACG interest of corporate development, M&A, investors and related service disciplines
· Recent relevant experiences in core ACG interests or disciplines (e.g. a serial CEO, but currently unemployed, between investments or retired)
· Relevant experience in serving on corporate, community service or professional boards
· Extent and level of existing contacts and networks
· Existing or prior membership in other ACG Chapters
· Level of professionalism, ethics, integrity and demonstrated competence
· Ability to commit business resources (time and money) to ACG Tampa activities
· Additional representative from a company that is a current paid sponsor of ACG Tampa or who has committed to become a sponsor
When there is no ACG Tampa sponsor, the majority decision of three representatives of the Membership Committee, based upon an interview, will determine acceptance as a new member
Non-Solicitation Policy
ACG events are for starting new relationships and nurturing existing ones. While nearly everyone joins ACG with some business development goals in mind, we put those aside at our events and concentrate instead on getting to know and understand our fellow members and guests. At ACG events we make and receive introductions. Our group grows because we are gracious hosts. Our members are active and our guests become members because it is comfortable to be in our presence.
People that we meet at ACG events may become customers, indeed, we hope so. But at our events, no one is a prospect and everyone is a friend, and we act accordingly.
For these reasons, ACG Tampa Bay has developed "Helpful Networking Tips" for appropriate and inappropriate activities (in question/answer format) in an effort to make the fine line between professional networking and solicitation clearer and easier to recognize.