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McCann Associates Legacy

In 1959, Forbes McCann founded McCann Associates in the Somerton section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly the Chief of Examinations for the City of Philadelphia, Mr. McCann was aware of the need for fair and valid assessments of civil servants, a system based on knowledge and skills possessed by an applicant, rather than chance factors.

Mr. McCann's accurate reading of the marketplace placed him in the perfect position to assist Civil Service Commissions, municipal governments and public safety agencies to develop bias-free hiring and promotion processes during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, when employment procedures were under scrutiny for being discriminatory and biased.

With the publication and adoption of the 1978 Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, Mr. McCann saw the opportunity to develop valid, written selection instruments that would maintain the quality of applicants required by public safety and other government, nonprofit and corporate agencies, while remaining fair to minority candidates. These Guidelines permit a testing agency to deliver an aptitude test that has been criterion-validated in another municipality, providing that the requirements of job similarity and test fairness are met.

In 1985, Mr. McCann passed leadership of the organization to Philip E. Dolan, who had also formerly worked for the City of Philadelphia. Mr. Dolan was President and CEO of McCann Associates until his retirement in December 2002. In early 2003, McCann Associates began its partnership with Vantage Technologies and its subsidiary, Vantage Learning.

Today, McCann Associates proudly carries on its 48-year tradition of designing and delivering unbiased custom-developed high-stakes and diagnostic professional assessments and consulting services for public and private organizations. By leveraging proven technology to enhance the assessment process, McCann Associates continues to add new product lines to address a larger audience, while maintaining its delivery of high quality assessments.