East Central Reporter

Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) was one of many state senators to give thanks to their support staff this week in honor of Administrative Professionals Day.

In an April 21 video shared by the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus, Plummer said his administrative assistants do a lot for his district. 

"I want to thank Sarah and Tarah, my administrative assistants, for all of their hard work," Plummer said. "They do a great job every day for the people of the 5th District and people from around the state of Illinois. There is a tremendous amount of people out there that have benefited from their dedication. So I want to say thank Sarah, thank you Tarah. 

"I know there are a lot of people around the eight counties I represent in the state of Illinois that thank them for what they’ve done, especially in the most difficult 12 months we’ve seen in a while."

The U.S. has been celebrating Administrative Professional's Day in some shape or form since World War II. 

About Administrative Professionals Day

During World War II, there was an increased need for skilled administrative personnel. The National Secretaries Association was formed to recognize the contributions of secretaries and other administrative personnel to the economy, to support their personal development and to help attract people to administrative careers in the field. The association's name was changed to Professional Secretaries International in 1981 and, finally, the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) in 1998.

These changes in name reflected the changing nature of the tasks, qualifications and responsibilities of the members of the organization. IAAP now has an international orientation and continues to provide education and training and sets standards of excellence recognized by the business community on a global perspective. The organization's vision is "to inspire and equip all administrative professionals to attain excellence."

The first National Secretaries Week was organized in 1952 in conjunction with the United States Department of Commerce and various office supply and equipment manufacturers. The Wednesday of that week became known as National Secretaries Day. As the organization gained international recognition, the events became known as Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day. In 2000, IAAP announced that names of the week and the day were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of the modern administrative workforce. Many work environments across the world observe this event.