Spring 2023 – Presidents Update
by Paul Ngai
Paul Ngai, BMW CCA NJ President

President’s Message
Dear Members,
I attended my first Regional BMW CCA Conference recently and the presidents from the North Atlantic chapters were all invited along with other board members. Larry Engel, our NA Regional VP, and Lou Ann Shirk, our Executive VP, were present and we discussed various topics including the recent decline in our membership and what we all can do to help increase chapter visibility. We are looking at ways to attract new members to join our chapter. We are hosting social events such as Cars and Coffee events with fellow BMW enthusiasts, tech sessions at our sponsor garages, and ice-cream socials to name a few. We are also working with our local BMW dealerships reminding them that the member rebate program offered by BMW NA is still available and they should notify their customers. Our new business manager Lou D’Angeli is developing new ideas to attract more sponsors to our events. While overall membership has declined, the M Chapter has shown an increase in membership. If you own an M or M Performance vehicle, don’t forget to sign up with the M Chapter for exciting events in your nearest location. Other non-geographic chapters include the X Chapter and the i Chapter. You can add these to your current membership on the BMW CCA National website. https://www.bmwcca.org/
We held our first High Performance Driving Event (HPDE) of the year together with the NY Chapter recently at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. We had a great turnout and the weather cooperated. We even had 20 novice students who came out on Sunday with their daily drivers and drove the track for the first time. Everyone had a blast and learned about car control. Also, we held our annual Instructor Training School and congratulations to our seven new instructors. A huge thanks to Jeff White, Jamie Kavalieros, Bill Van Ocker, Mirril McMillin, and all the volunteers for making this event a success. If you missed this event, our next school is on June 5-6 at NJMP Thunderbolt. Sign up early to avoid last-minute charges. https://njbmwcca.org/calendar/