January 2013 Fastrack

[mossaidis]

"PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Jeff Dahnert gave a brief overview of the staff’s current and upcoming projects. The Insurance Committee for 2012 was chaired by Dan Helman, (Houston Region) and included members: Ed Locke (Chicago Region) , Michael Smith (San Francisco Region) and John Zuccarelli (Florida Region), as well as staff member, Richard Ehret, VP Finance, and Michael Lewis, Treasurer, providing oversight and guidance. This combined effort proved to be a successful model and will be used on future projects specifically an IT Committee."

"FINANCE REPORT
Ehret gave an update on year to date financial reports and forecast for 2012 which is on target per the budget. On behalf of the Insurance Committee, Ehret presented the rates for 2013 with an approximate 20-25% reduction across the board. The rates are decreasing but the participation pool has also decreased. The new rate sheet will be distributed to Regions by December 14.

Discussion followed regarding insurance allocations across programs and across subsidiaries. The carrier’s analysis of loss ratios has resulted in the savings. Lewis commended Ehret for his efforts in pursuing the reduction in insurance rates.
MOTION: To approve the Insurance rate plan as presented. Butler/Lybarger. PASSED unanimously.
BOARD STATEMENT: The Board of Directors extends its appreciation for the excellent work on the insurance program and thanks the committee members for their time, energy and efforts in securing a comprehensive plan with significant savings.

Lewis presented the proposed 2013 budget. The 2013 budget shows the full implementation of the Majors program and staff resource requirements to support the program. Aside from the Majors component, the budget is very similar to the 2012 operating budget. The 2013 budget delivers the insurance program savings with reduced rates to the Regions; however, there are some slight increases in sanction fees. Sanction fees for Club Racing have not increased since 2006. The current sanction fee increase is in response to the declining number of events and of inflation.

McCarthy raised discussion about the budgeting process. The Board understands that this is a difficult process as we are very dependent on entries and sponsorship.
MOTION: to approve the budget for 2013 as presented. Lewis/Walsh. PASSED 12-1. Opposed: McCarthy.

Langlotz expressed a desire to track the financial impact of the Majors program on the National Office."

[kcolbey]

Thanks Andy! I was able to take a look at it finally. I also found the addition of lowering of barriers to entry pretty interesting. I wonder how it will work in practice, but that is for the pilot regions/events to give it a try.

Mickey, I saw that mention of the IT Committee, theory is restructuring of ITB/ITC?

[Chip42]

Pretty sure the IT referenced in the BoD notes above is "information technology". We are working on itb overall, but not at a BoD mixed oversight level...

[JeffYoung]

Yeah, if it is us, I've not heard anything (not that that means anything).

But I doubt it is us, and think Chip is right.

[rthiele]

It's about time they put up a separate class for us many guys in the tech industry. I propose adding ITH for the hardware folks while changing ITS to Software. ITC becomes consulting.
Happy Holidays Everyone!

[lawtonglenn]

It's about time they put up a separate class for us many guys in the tech industry. I propose adding ITH for the hardware folks while changing ITS to Software. ITC becomes consulting.
Happy Holidays Everyone!

reminds me of a story

there were four engineers driving together along a country road, when the car suddenly
stalled and came to a stop....they all tried to suggest a diagnosis and path forward

the electrical engineer said "there's likely no spark, we need to troubleshoot the ignition"

the chemical engineer said "I think we got bad fuel at the last rest stop, we need to drain the tank"

the mechanical engineer said "I heard a knocking noise, I think we have serious problems"

and the IT engineer said "why don't we just get out of the car and get back in again"

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my racing friends!