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LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Feb. 19, 2009) 聙聯 The first day of the 45th SCCA National Convention at South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., saw several region awards handed out and the membership聙聶s first formal introduction to the new SCCA President and CEO.The morning sessions were capped off with a leadership luncheon to recognize individual region achievements in membership growth, communications and overall excellence. The Tom Burke Award for region growth was awarded to Badlands Region in the small region category, to South Jersey Region in the medium region category, to San Diego Region in the large region category and to Colorado Region in the jumbo region category. For outstanding communications efforts, South Bend Region was awarded third place, Western Ohio Region came in second and Nebraska Region was declared the winner. For overall region achievement, Chattanooga Region (small region), Hawaii Region (medium region), Finger Lakes Region (large region) and Colorado Region (jumbo region) were recognized.It was also announced at the luncheon that SCCA had grown to 114 regions, with the addition of the Eastern Idaho Region.The day聙聶s activities ended with three key meetings: Meet the President, the SCCA, Inc. Annual Meeting and SCCA, Inc. Town Hall. SCCA聙聶s new President and CEO Jeff Dahnert spent some time introducing himself and reviewing SCCA聙聶s strategic plan at Meet the President. Dahnert emphasized a need for the club to focus on participation, repeating the theme of the convention, 聙聹make it easy, make it fun,聙聺 as a motto for better customer service, keeping an open mind and treating one another with respect.Representatives from the SCCA National Office, SCCA Pro Racing, SCCA Enterprises, RoadRally, RallyCross, Solo, Time Trails, Club Racing and the SCCA Foundation each presented their annual reviews to the SCCA Board of Directors. SCCA Enterprises and SCCA Pro Racing both posted profits and paid off substantial sums on their loans. SCCA, Inc. reported an operational profit despite challenging economic times. It was reported that while all three companies were profitable operationally, there was an overall net loss due to investment returns. There was a 2.5 percent drop in membership for 2008, but Vice President of Membership Colan Arnold was quick to point out that it was the smallest decrease in membership since 2002 and that 56 percent of new members were under the age of 35, combating the myth of a graying membership. Additionally, three new board members were introduced at the Annual Meeting: Robin Langlotz for Area Three, Marcus Meredith for Area Four and Michael Lewis for Area 11.Following the Annual Meeting, SCCA BOD members and SCCA National Staff entertained questions from the membership at the traditional SCCA Town Hall, before unwinding at the SCCA Welcome Reception Presented by Mazda North American Operations. The 45th SCCA National Convention will continue tomorrow through Saturday, Feb. 21. Presentations and audio recordings from various sessions will be posted to scca.com shortly after the event.-30-