Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
November 13, 2020
Waterfront Hotel, Indianapolis IN
Executive Director Jay Jackson opened the meeting at 7:33pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Those in attendance were: Region 00-Jerry & Sherri Gordon; Region 01-Wayne Kopec, Russ Zawacki & Sam Bardo; Region 02-Terry Young; Region 03-Scott Bowman, Mark & Shannon Hughes, Brett Anderson; Region 04-Kent Taylor (via Zoom), Lori Bussell & Chuc Hunter; Region 06-Mark Thomas, Bob “Boots” Sipes; Region 07- Ken Harris, Dan Warnell, Bryan Layton; Region 08-Nicole Powell, Ethan Herrera; Region 09-Mo Kintner; Region 10-Suzanne Eckert, Roy & Becky Rogers; Region 11-Pat Haggard; Region 12-Brian Russell; Region 13-Aaron Meyer (via Zoom); AdComm- Bob Stoner (via Zoom), Gino Johnson (via Zoom), Rick Thompson (via Zoom); MRF-Roberta Meyer (via Zoom); Marketing Committee-Mike Seiler; Secretary/Treasurer-Tina McCormack (via Zoom); Region 05 is inactive.
ITEM 1: Jay noted the altered set up of the room for the purpose of social distancing, and asked that all speakers talk loudly for the recorder. Rayce Guthrie delivered supplies and returned home due to not feeling well. The order of topics will also be altered from the agenda.
Jay drew attention to some of the losses we’ve suffered this year, largely because of COVID-19. In addition to losing longtime members, many events were cancelled, which has impacted the organization’s finances. We fortunately were able to host the Boogie and also the Meeting of the Minds (MOTM).
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ITEM 2: Marc introduced the advertising commission program. We have very few advertisers for the Hoosier Motorcyclist (HMC), and to attempt to increase that, ABATE will pay a commission to anyone selling advertisements for the magazine. Marc has reduced ad prices. Further details are included in the Fall Seminar handout.
Our office copier lease is nearing expiration. Marc negotiated a slightly lower cost on a new copier lease. The new copier will have the color option, but we will limit that to keep costs down.
Marc then announced the rollout and explained the process of the multi-year memberships. The multi-year packages are available through our storefront only at this time. Jay added that these multi-year renewals are a convenience for the member, with a slight reduction in price. Discussion followed regarding membership pin demand, as well as multi-year and lifetime memberships.
Marc spoke of cyber security, and the annual process to ensure our systems are PCI compliant.
Marc is also reevaluating our cell phone contract.
Marc discussed making the HMC available in a digital format to members only. Mass emailing also requires additional expense in both hardware and coding.
ITEM 3: AdComm nominations were completed. Voting was not necessary since Rod Taylor and Gino Johnson were the only nominees.
MOTION 1
ITEM 4: The sanctioning of 2021 events was accomplished next.
ITEM 5: Tina requested a motion to approve the May/June financials.
MOTION 2
Tina drew attention to the dashboard which shows 39 nights of bingo and about 24 rider ed courses were cancelled due to restrictions because of COVID-19. ABATE is owed more than $80k from the BMV at this time. Our total billing to the rider ed program this year was $239,200 for 1,840 students.
Gino explained the handout he generated for the board, a comparison of cash on hand for the past 5 years. He’s optimistic about our current financial position but we still need to continue to generate revenues and watch expenses. Boogie financials were much improved this year over the past several. The improvement was largely due to decreased expenses. Gino complimented the board on the decisions they made that have positively affected our bottom line.
We believe the Paycheck Protection Plan loan will be forgiven. We are currently in the process of finalizing the forgiveness application. Tina will request opinion from Peachin, Schwartz & Weingardt (PSW), before submitting the application.
Tina noted that Boogie financials are included in directors’ packets this month. She asked everyone to review their packets & forward the appropriate reports to their region secretaries & treasurers. She encouraged the regions that will have changes to the signers on their region checking account begin the process now to have the new cards signed.
Tina asked for award lists by the end of this year.
Gino thanked everyone for their compliance with gaming laws.
ITEM 6: Jay stated that while gaming has not been as strong as it once was, as of late it has been steady. The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) recently audited Coliseum Bingo for COVID-19 restrictions compliance. Elizabeth Hanes, our bingo operator, has been following the recommended guidelines & restrictions.
ITEM 7: Roy Garrett and Rayce Guthrie are scheduled to teach a Dirt Bike School (DBS) tomorrow at LCRP. We continue to see strong enrollment in DBS, with many students from out of state. Harley-Davidson plans to debut an adventure bike in the near future.
Jay announced that there has been an increase in ridership at LCRP.
ITEM 8: Jay talked about our recent general elections, and the fact that results are not finalized. ABATE of Indiana is not and cannot be partisan. Organization Day at the State House is this coming Tuesday, November 17. Restrictions are still in place to socially distance because of the virus. The only constitutional requirement of the Indiana General Assembly is to establish a biennial budget, and this next session is a budget year. There’s no legislation at this time that ABATE is supporting, we were successful last year in getting our resolution (HCR38) passed through both houses. This shows strong support by the IGA for ABATE and Indiana motorcyclists’ interest in having access to trails in the Hoosier National Forest (HNF).
Roberta announced that Mark Buckner has accepted a newly formed position with the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), as Executive Director. Mark requested that every MRF member recruit 1 new member. Roberta stated that, in Indiana there are more than 250,000 registered motorcycles, & only 117 MRF members. She thanked those that worked the MOTM.
Jay added that MOTM was a great event. He then explained that the MRF’s work on the federal level is what creates opportunities in Washington DC for states to control what happens in their state as far as legislation that affects motorcyclists. Although the United States Congress has been pretty much closed to the public because of the virus, the MRF has continued to communicate with members of Congress, promoting the MRF’s national agenda items.
ITEM 9: Jay discussed 3 separate fatalities in a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) 3-wheeled training course this year, 1 in Washington (state), 1 in Indiana and 1 in Illinois.
Jay anticipates conducting an Instructor Prep (IP) in late March through early April. Our IP for this year was cancelled because of COVID. We are also working on some Instructor Updates for this winter through early spring. We’re searching for ranges in the Indianapolis and Elkhart areas.
Jay announced the death of John Bodeker, who was the 1st State Program Coordinator for the Indiana Dept of Education’s Motorcycle Safety Program.
ITEM 10: Tomorrow is our Fall Seminar. In the past 10 days or so, the format has been revised at least 4 times due to the effects of the current pandemic. We’ll have some speakers and will distribute our Guidebook and Fall Seminar handout. Discussion followed about the Hospitality Contest. Jay explained registration for the morning.
ITEM 11: Jay discussed possibilities for Director Prep and Awards Banquet.
ITEM 12: Mike Seiler distributed current membership numbers. The Marketing Committee suggested including a 1 year ABATE membership to every DBS student. Discussion ensued.
MOTION 3
Mike then suggested mailing a postcard to each new member every 3-4 months. Discussion followed. Consensus was to communicate electronically on follow ups rather than in mailings.
The importance of communication with our rider ed students to educate them about ABATE of Indiana was discussed.
ITEM 13: Jay invited everyone to come to the Bargersville office to see the museum & motorcycle hall of fame.
He then stated that regions should forward their Boogie volunteer hours for inclusion in the awards calculations.
Meeting adjourned to Executive Session, 10:53pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Tina McCormack
Secretary/Treasurer
The next scheduled Board of Directors meeting will be February 12, 2021, location TBA.
MOTIONS
Motion 1: Ken Harris nominated Gino Johnson to the Advisory Committee, with a second by Scott Bowman; Ken Harris nominated Rod Taylor to the Advisory Committee, seconded by Scott Bowman. Russ Zawacki motioned to close Advisory Committee nominations, with a second by Jerry Gordon. No voting is necessary.
Motion 2: Ken Harris motioned to approve the May/June financials with a second by Suzanne Eckert. All regions voted in favor, motion carried.
Motion 3: Pat Haggard made a motion to evaluate the inclusion of a 1 year membership to ABATE of Indiana, with every DBS tuition paid, and was seconded by Ken Harris. All regions voted yes; motion carried.
Motion 4: Ken Harris motioned to adjourn to Executive Session, with a second by Scott Bowman. All regions in favor; motion carried.
