Attendees: Curt Comer (Executive Director), Arthur Kowitz (Chairman), Fred Guidi, Cindy McLean (recorder), Tim Terrell, Kevin Burns, Jim Korn, Brian Larrabure (Treasurer), Luke Sayer, Kelly Shane (Secretary), Rob Poole, Beno Rodi, Albert Newmann, Luke Conner
Arthur introduced and congratulated re-elected incumbent board members and newly elected board members Jim Korn (Eastern Trustee) and Luke Sayer (Western Trustee).
Election of Officers for 2021
- Chairman of the Board: Kelly Shane nominated Arthur Kowitz, Brian seconded, Tim Terrell nominated Luke Conner, Luke Conner seconded. Ballots were cast, and Arthur was elected as Chairman of the Board for 2021
- Board Secretary: Albert Newmann nominated Kelly Shane, Arthur seconded, no other candidates were introduced. Kelly Shane was named Secretary for 2021.
- Board Treasurer: Kelly nominated Brian Larrabure, Rob Poole seconded, Luke Conner nominated Tim Terrell, Beno seconded. Ballots were cast and Brian was elected Treasurer for 2021
Barber Meeting Minutes were approved (Motion to approve BL, second RP, 11 in favor, 1 abstain).
Financial Reports (Curt Comer/Brian Larrabure)
FY2020 & YTD
There was no operating reserve going into 2020, and with COVID, cash flow was impacted leaving AHRMA with no operating reserve going into the 2020 offseason, however, AHRMA has $54k in the investment account. Expected expenses were the 2021 AHRMA Handbook and the 2020 Championship jackets. Amy Jacques and Cindy McLean accelerated sponsorships coming into the new year which helped immensely. Other sources of revenue which helped us make it through to now without additional financial assistance included: Talladega Track Day Fund Raiser, Bike Raffle, and US backed Payroll Protection Program (PPP). We are comparable to where we were last year at the same time (YTD).
Budget Forecast for 2021
PPP currently shows as a liability. There was discussion concerning the benefit of applying for an additional PPP, but there is only one AHRMA “employee” for the majority of 2021, and it was decided to be unnecessary for our needs. Formal budget was not available for this meeting.
Kelly motioned to accept the financial reports, Kevin second, unanimous approval.
Member comment period (summarized)
- Mark Sturtevant – Trustees should intro themselves at events they attend.
- Mark Zachary – Nobody over 70 should be allowed to compete.
- John Stein – Make AHRMA races tobacco and drug free.
- Ted Robins – Would like RR to consider returning to Grattan Raceway.
Curt posed the question as to whether we should admit general members to the Zoom meeting, and it was agreed that the technical aspects preclude our offering that capability.
Chairman Update (Arthur Kowitz)
Dirt Track update with class rules discussion.
Profit/loss amounts for 2019 and 2020, AHRMA’s expenditure is around $24k, while our revenue is around $3k-4k in sanction and entry fees. We are averaging around 11 AHRMA members competing per event. The Dirt Track Planning Committee has laid out a plan for continuing as is for the 1st half of 2021, then for the 2nd half, the program will undergo a remodeling, incorporating AHRMA promoted events. Our new Roadrace director brings extensive experience in Dirt Track promotions / timing and scoring. This opens opportunities to host self-promoted events.
Four classes, termed “Director’s Choice” have been created, which allow those not conforming to some of the AHRMA Handbook rules to compete with AHRMA. The program is being repackaged with class rules which are more inclusive to grow our grids.
Tony Paul, Alex Mock, and Arthur Kowitz are heading up this program remodel. We want to preserve the “rolling museum” quality of historic racing while at the same time getting more Dirt Track competitors. With Alex taking the lead, show money is being negotiated for showcasing AHRMA Dirt Track at large rallies like Sturgis, Republic of Texas, etc. We are targeting 5 potential events for this purpose.
2022 Vintage Cup.
The 2022 Vintage Cup class has been identified and will be announced after the Roadrace season gets underway, at Roebling Road.
Roadrace Podium and Backdrop.
The Podium backdrop was produced and used the latter half of 2020, and the podium is now available and will be at Roebling Road.
Classic MotoFest Local Event Managers.
Jim Doyle has been identified as the Event Manager for the AHRMA Classic MotoFest at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, KS, while Lorraine Crussell will be the Event Manager for the AHRMA Classic MotoFest at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA.
Secretary Reports (Kelly Shane)
Electronic Elections.
This was our 2nd year using Association Voting for our online voting service. The 2020 election forced an update of personal info on MSR. This cleanup helped us for the 2021 election efficiencies. We had close to 30% participation – historically quite good. Only 18 paper ballots were cast. The results were clear, and AV was able to certify the results very shortly after end of election.
Offroad Region Reorganization.
Kelly Shane, Fred Guidi, Tim Terrell, Albert Newmann, Jason Colon, Terry McPhilips, Luke Sayer, Ed Roman and Tony Paul worked together to restructure the organization of the Offroad regions with the goal of strengthening Regional events to offset the reduced number of Nationals. AHRMA Off Road has been formed into Western, Central and Eastern districts with each District having 2 to 4 Regions. District boundaries were based on travel time/distance within the district. Some existing Region boundaries were slightly modified based on participation. Two new regions were defined: Heartland- NE, IA, KS and MO (In the Heartland Region there are events planned for 2021 including the Heartland Motorsports Park MotoFest), and North Central- Iowa, ND, SD and MN.
The goal is to strengthen regional programs to offset the reduced number of nationals.
The National Finals Championship event at Henryetta was very successful. Several class championships were decided at the event in head-to-head competition.
Bylaws verbiage allowing video conference BoT “regular” meetings in special circumstances.
The updated Bylaws verbiage for the BOT Meeting by videoconference rules was reviewed. Brian Larrabure motioned to accept, Albert Newmann seconded, motion carried 11 to 1.
Executive Director Reports (Curt Comer)
Initiatives/Goals: Increase revenues – increase membership, increase sponsorships
Sponsorship Drive for 2021.
Led by Amy Jacques / Cindy McLean. We had a very successful sponsorship drive however there are still unrealized opportunities for offroad sponsorships.
Membership Drive (Luke Sayer).
Luke Sayer, Tim Terrell and Mac McGowan have been working on strategies to increase membership. Who is our target audience? How do we appeal to them? It’s synergistic – spectators come out and get the bug, join, then bring their friends using their sphere of influence. Opportunities discussed (Curt identified expired or weekend memberships). Arthur suggested that at larger events the announcer invite spectators to become members, offering an incentive (t-shirt?). Mentorship was also explored, which could be done by identifying new members and soliciting existing members to partner up at rider’s meetings (“Who’s new to AHRMA? Who wants to show this new rider the ropes?”) – a sort of welcoming committee. Luke Sayer will coordinate the membership booth at the Classic MotoFests.
Roadrace Director Transition.
Curt shared the evolution of the Pentecosts and the RR Event Committee meetings, etc. Since the Pentecosts were brought on board in 2019, we were able to get the schedules published earlier. Tony and Faynisha did a great job managing the RR calendar and events in challenging times. They will stay engaged through March 31 for a warm handoff to Alex Mock (our incoming Roadrace Director). After March 31, Faynisha transitions to MSR back office work. This alleviates potential additional work off of Alex and keeps Faynisha, with her extensive knowledge of MSR involved with AHRMA.
Marketing (Curt Comer, Brian Larrabure, Arthur Kowitz)
Branding.
Paul Elledge is heading up AHRA branding, starting with “Instagram a Day”. This led to him looking to rebrand with a logo which pops better on social media in addition to our heritage AHRMA logo. A Kevin McIntosh design was selected and decals will be introduced at the next event. All agreed that it is important that we retain the heritage logo as it has historic and recognition value.
Press Releases.
David Stark has been tapped to be the writer and/or reviewer of press releases coming out of AHRMA. Cindy is working with David both pre- and post-review of all press releases and is responsible for distribution to publications. Cindy will initiate requests with David in order to be respectful of his work schedule.
MotoFests.
All Field Sports has been contracted to market sponsorships at Heartland and Laguna Seca events. AFS will manage the festival program. The agreement is based on a retainer fee and percent of revenue.
General, Offroad and AHRMA MAG advertising sales.
John Simanovich (Business Development) has been engaged to pursue ad sales and Offroad class sponsorships. His position is commission based, and he brings significant experience and energy with him. In addition to the AHRMA MAG and Offroad sponsorships, John will be pursuing sponsorships for the 24-hour race to promote our team for the Perry Mountain initiative. Arthur emphasized that the Offroad class sponsorships are a significant unrealized revenue opportunity.
Drag Racing (Luke Conner)
Drag Race Rules / Events.
Luke presented the preliminary drag race rules which include entry fees. Discussion regarding the Heartland Motorsports Park Classic MotoFest, and the cost of renting the drag racing facility. Arthur and Luke will be meeting to discuss cost before Roebling Road and the kickoff HMP Zoom meeting.
2022 Rules proposal strategy/schedule (Kevin Burns/Arthur Kowitz)
Board of Trustee Rule Proposal Meeting Schedule.
Arthur suggested that the preliminary and final vote meetings be held closer together, possibly to be scheduled via Zoom meeting. This would help the trustees during the voting process since the preliminary vote would be fresher in their minds. Kevin and Cindy will provide the timeline and process to the EC, no later than March 9.
Meeting Adjourned
Open session portion of this meeting was adjourned at 2:30pm
