During the first five years of operation the news of Great Lakes Pharmacies spread to colleagues in Georgia.  A nucleus of Georgia independent store owners organized a meeting with Heckman to find out if a second compliant pharmacy group could be cloned.  Soon Independent Pharmacies of America became a reality as the second regional cooperative.  IPA grew from Georgia into Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia—and Idaho.  We found out that two groups held twice the power and leverage as one.