The decision to feature the Jeep in his first book in a series on project management in history was an easy one for Paul Bruno.

“It's just the No. 1 story that I always wanted to tell,” said Bruno of Henderson, Nev., who will be among speakers at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival this weekend.

The creation of the Jeep is a perfect fit for a project management study, Bruno said.

“The whole effort followed a fairly regular project management path,” he said. “I think what we were trying to do is to show that they (Jeep makers) mirrored a project management methodology, even though they didn't know it, and there are lessons for today. People can learn from their experience.”

“Project Management in History: The First Jeep” points out 47 entrepreneurial lessons.

“It's the story of a powerful business lesson,” Bruno said.

Of course, Butler is integral to the story of the Jeep.

Before its involvement in World War II, the United States government asked vehicle manufacturers in June 1940 to come up with a design and prototype for “1/4 ton truck 4x4 light project.”

“It basically went through the process of general requirements, specific requirements, bid, contract, build and test,” Bruno said.

The federal government wanted designs submitted and then later a prototype built and delivered in 49 days.

Bid documents were sent to 135 companies, Bruno said. Only four companies even attempted bids, and two came up with a bid.

Willys-Overland finished a cost and materials bid, but did not complete the documents. Only Butler's American Bantam Car Co. completed the bid documents.

“This is why I love this story,” Bruno said. “Bantam had about two weeks, and by the time they got the design engineer in, they had about 48 hours to complete the bid.”

And only Bantam delivered a prototype on time on Sept. 23.

“The Army went through a structured process,” Bruno said. “The key item was they wanted the prototype in 49 days — a miracle in 49 days.”

There is no doubt in his mind which Jeep should be considered the first Jeep.

“Because the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) itself credited Bantam with creating the first Jeep, it was the logical choice,” he said.

Bruno said because not much clear information exists from that time, he read the actual FTC testimony, over 4,000 pages and 400 exhibits, from when the American Bantam Car Co. challenged Willys-Overland's advertising its own Jeep as the first.

“I think it clears up a lot of misconceptions,” Bruno said.

After the prototype was delivered, Bantam was awarded a contract to build 69 more, Bruno said.

“Gramps,” a 1940 prototype Bantam Reconnaissance Car that is the oldest known Jeep in existence, is on display at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, on loan from the Smithsonian.

Bruno and his wife, Cathy, spent 10 years from 2000 to 2010 trying to have a movie made about the Jeep's story. They had written several versions of a screenplay. But no film ever came about, Bruno said.

“My wife and I were the ones who were given the privilege and the blessing to tell this story, to really bring the story out into its fullest, to tell the story as completely as it's ever been. There were a lot of pieces, and we took all that and consolidated it and organized it into a way you could follow it,” he said.

It took another three years, starting in the fall of 2011, to write the book.

But Bruno said, “My wife became ill in 2012 and passed away. The book became both a way we wanted to honor the people who created the Jeep in 49 days and a way to honor her life.”

“The First Jeep” was published in 2014.

“What really propelled us to tell the story were the people who built the first one. Their legacy, I see it every day,” he said.

Bruno is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday and at 10 a.m. Sunday in the festival's History Exhibit Building at Coopers Lake Campground. He also will have a booth and autographed copies of his book.

“The First Jeep” is also available in paperback and digital formats from online sources and from the Butler County Historical Society.

As far as the next publication in the project management in history series, Bruno said he is considering books on the Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, the B-17 bomber and the transcontinental railroad.

Paul Bruno works as a program/project management consultant and as a senior consultant and trainer for the International Institute for Learning.He has 25 years of experience in information technology and has held numerous volunteer positions, both at the global headquarters and local chapter level, for the Project Management Institute.He holds master's degrees in business administration and history and bachelor's degrees in computer software and management.Bruno has hosted Internet radio programs and, with his late wife, Cathy, and Max Freedman, has written numerous historically based screenplays.Freedman is also the contributing editor of “The First Jeep.”