The Pittsburgh Business Travel Association has notified the Global Business Travel Association that it is discontinuing its chapter status and affiliation to become an independent organization.
PBTA members in December 2014 voted "overwhelmingly in favor of becoming independent," according to PBTA president Mary Taylor. One PBTA member, requesting anonymity, said 85 percent of members voted in favor.
"Armed with the decision of the membership, the PBTA Board reacted accordingly and provided formal notice to GBTA leadership of the result of the vote," Taylor wrote in an email this week to BTN. She added, "GBTA leadership has not acknowledged receipt of the notification to any PBTA board member whose signature was applied to the formal letter."
GBTA executive director and COO Michael McCormick in an emailed statement confirmed receipt of the letter. "We have not yet had the opportunity to speak with the local Pittsburgh community to better understand how to best serve their needs in the future," he noted.
McCormick this week is attending GBTA's Chapter Leadership Summit in San Diego "with more than 170 leaders who have gathered here to work together to continue to build our ability to share knowledge, resources and industry best practices across the business travel industry," he wrote.
In a communication distributed to PBTA membership obtained by BTN, the Pittsburgh board recounted events that prompted the vote, amid a request by GBTA for chapters to validate their current status.
Among those events, PBTA claimed GBTA refused to reimburse the chapter for expenses incurred for a canceled 2011 chapter summit meeting to be held in Pittsburgh and that the organization declined to address issues with a member of both organizations who PBTA suspended for alleged "infractions," including voting fraud. The document, distributed by PBTA's board, alleged other purported snubs by GBTA leadership. One PBTA member also highlighted PBTA's board had questioned the value of ongoing costs to maintain affiliation.
It's not the first time a local chapter has had a falling out with the organization. The Georgia Business Travel Association in 2012 moved to wind down exclusive affiliation with GBTA and entered into a joint venture with the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. Yet, Georgia's secession, which came amid GBTA's plans to restructure chapter business relationships, was short-lived. By the end of 2013, GBTA announced the local BTA renewed its affiliation.
The Georgia BTA on Friday was listed as a local chapter on GBTA's website. The Pittsburgh chapter, however, was not.