Luke Conner AHRMA Western Trustee Write-In Candidate Statement I have been an AHRMA member for the past four years and in that time I have gotten to know many great folks and have made life-long friendships. I am running as a Write-In Candidate for Western Trustee because I want to do my part in keeping AHRMA a friendly, solvent racing organization that supports a wide variety of racing disciplines and to preserve the only vintage motorcycle organization that allows so many different people to enjoy vintage motorsports racing. After being out of racing since the early 80s I am again enjoying being involved with motorsports and specifically AHRMA, for sure. I’m a native of Louisiana and have ridden bikes all my life. At times, bikes were my only mode of transportation, not just a sport. While in high school and college, I worked at the local Honda dealership in Lake Charles and during the early 70s I supported two motocross pros as a mechanic and tuner. I went on to become an NCAA football official after college and officiated for nearly twenty years. During my tenure there, I served on the executive committee with the NCAA and the National Federation. I’m an Eagle Scout and continue to support the Boy Scouts of America. And I am proud to say that my son will make Eagle Scout next year. My wife Barbara and I are both class sponsors for AHRMA Road Racing. We enjoy the sponsorship, we enjoy the racing and we enjoy the camaraderie. Barbara has won 3rd place in Historic Production this year, only the second woman to win a road race top 3. She will be moving on to a 1954 Harley Davidson KHK this year, so it will be a handful for us. We have over eight race bikes; at least 6 roadrace bikes, one Husky cross country bike and a Honda VMX bike. As you can see, we are trying to spread things around as much as we can. There is only one vintage racing organization where we could do this and that’s AHRMA! I am a degreed engineer owning and operating a high tech resource conservation and alternate energy business, CPL Systems, working for many Fortune 100 companies. I have taken my company out of receivership, so I understand–firsthand–what it means to be insolvent and what is ultimately needed to operate effectively. Through my leadership, we created an aggressive business plan, followed it religiously and moved the company out of court protection in less than half of the time required. Why is this of importance to AHRMA? CPL Systems landed in receivership, not based on financial issues specifically, but because of a deadlock in the Board of Directors. Because of this prior experience, I understand the decision making process required by the Board where sometimes others may not. CPL Systems’ business is back on track and I invite you to visit our website, www.cpl-systems.com. I feel that all racing disciplines within AHRMA are equally important to the success of the organization. AHRMA is the only place where so many disciplines can come together and be supported by a common organization for vintage sports, and this is what makes our organization unique. There is strength in numbers and diversity, and I feel that we should work diligently to maintain a wide base of disciplines, which in turn, will result in growing AHRMA membership. I do believe that we need to find a way to get members together across disciplines. Getting folks to know each other is the key to building stronger relationships within AHRMA, which ultimately will strengthen our organization. Everyone I meet in AHRMA wants the organization to succeed. I just think that we need some internal promotion, levelheaded business-minded thinking and a balance of politics in the board of directors. With that in mind, I ask for your vote as Write-In Candidate for AHRMA Western Trustee. Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions, via e-mail at [email protected] . Luke Conner Lafayette, Louisiana