Frank Schwartz, Area 4 Board of Directors Candidate
Hello Fellow Area 4 Members New and Old,
I am here to express my desire to be your Area 4 Representative to the National BOD. Putting my name forward is all about my desire to help the club be more successful. And by success, I mean growth, because I believe more members and participation help not just the volunteer shortages, but also fight inflationary pressures. Without specific efforts, I fear increased competition and people’s limited time and funds will result in a lack of growth and erosion of membership and attendance in some areas.
If you are a road racer, you are likely familiar with the success of the B-Spec Class, where I led the efforts to take the class from the 26th to 4th largest class in three short years. Since that time I have served as an advisor to several other classes that have faced and continue to face similar attendance issues. These growth strategies come from my experience as a business leader, where I substantially grew my company’s business and created world class enthusiast events at places like the New York and LA Auto Show, Pebble Beach, SEMA and more.
If you participate in any of the other SCCA disciplines, you can be comfortable that I have never been “just” a road racer. I started in autox, and have participated in the Solo Nats as recently as 2024. Even though we are elevation challenged where I live, I am also an avid hillclimber, participating in both the Empire MI and Pine Mountain KY Hillclimbs over the past few years. And while I have not done a TSD or Gimmick Road Rally in several years, it was always a favorite activity of my family. I even used to participate in Rally Cross before it had an official name.
But SCCA is about more than the participants, it is also about the volunteers.
- My first official volunteer experience was as a Solo Event Chair.
- In addition to the typical shagging cones, I started flagging corners and eventualy moved into T&S
- Detroit Region Newletter Editor
- SCCA Foundation Fundraising Manager and later serving on the Board.
- Great Lakes Division Points Keeper (current) – one of the things I am most proud of is driving the change to award Championship Jackets to the class winners
- On the unofficial side, I was part of the group that created the NCAC, which still runs today some 40+ years later (North Carolina Autocross Championship, a statewide points championship between SCCA and other independent auto clubs to help growth)
- I have worked with groups like WomenOnTrack to scholarship numerous race drivers through SCCA Competition Schools for the past several years.
Because of my role in the automotive OEM and performance industry, I spend some 30 weeks/weekends a year at various events and races around the country. As some of these are run by competing sanctioning bodies, it makes me uniquely qualified to compare what we at the SCCA do well, in addition to exposing me to alternative ways to engage members and make people happy. Which circles back to my goals – if we do a better job engaging members and make volunteers and participants happier, our club will grow.
