16 THE FOUNDING AND EARLY YEARS As ACOFP grew, operations became too complex for one person to effectively handle, so Mr. Hanks’s business partner, Robert Napoli, began to manage the extra duties. Later, Mr. Napoli would serve as the executive secretary to the American Osteopathic Board of General Practitioners (AOBGP), the forerunner of the AOBFP today. Mr. Hank established ACOFP as a dynamic force within the profession. Membership increased, and the banquets were always beautiful, well attended, and entertaining. In 1973, there were 500 attendees at the ACOFP banquet, compared to just 60 attendees in 1967. Both ACOFP and Allied Appraisals became extremely successful growing organizations, and it was not long before the operations needed more space and a boost in visibility. Prosperity and the extra work, spawned primarily by the association with Mr. Hank, meant the organization could afford a downtown office. Jack Hank was instrumental in moving the organization’s operations to the penthouse suite at 111 W. Washington St., in downtown Chicago. The building seemed befitting of ACOFP’s newly gained prominence: a 26-floor, granitecolumned building complete with entry flags, a doorman, and a gold-plated revolving door. The building and ACOFP were indeed first-class. But curiously, Mr. Hank still did not request to be full time as ACOFP’s director, and the office space would never be under ACOFP’s control. The college rented just 800 square feet of space and a fireproof drawer in the sprawling offices of Allied Appraisals, with a use agreement to reserve some common spaces for meetings, but they never controlled any space except the 800-square-foot space. For more than 12 years, the new address would be the center of ACOFP planning and operations. But many leaders felt from the outset that commingling the operations of the two organizations would be a formula for trouble. Differences of opinion would eventually arise over accounting practices and the assignment of assets in the intertwined corporations. The lack of formal recordkeeping, and the reporting of commonly requested financial data to the 1971 Congress of Delegates by Mr. Hank, raised enormous concern. His executive secretary’s finance report was delivered from figures on the back of a matchbook cover, causing many members to resign in protest. Newer leaders also grew disenchanted with Mr. Hank’s style of operations, but past presidents James L. Rowland, DO, FACOFP (1964–1965), and O. Keith Pauley, DO, FACOFP (1962–1963), stood in strong support of Mr. Hank. Their staunch support would ensure that Mr. Hank’s association with ACOFP would continue. While attending the fall 1977 AOA Annual Meeting, the ACOFP Board met in executive session. During this closed meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Atlanta, the Board decided it was time to hire a full-time executive director. Mr. Hank would be given first right of refusal, and their plan called for the prospective nominee to be presented at the winter board meeting, 111 W. Washington St., Chicago, IL; 1978–1982
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