New SCCA Region Development Director

TOPEKA, Kan. (Jan. 4, 2018) -- Beginning immediately, the Sports Car Club of America® has hired Chris Robbins as the new Director of Region Development.  Robbins will now lead both the Region Development and Member Services departments.

In his new role, Robbins will focus on helping SCCA® regions grow by developing and deploying an effective mix of membership acquisition, membership service and training, and program creation as part of an overall development plan for regions. He will work closely with staff, regional leadership and member services to provide regions with effective growth strategies.

Robbins worked at Southwest Airlines for more than two decades. From 2011 until his retirement in 2017, he served as a Customer Service Senior Manager, as well as a Curriculum Development Senior Manager and Senior Program Lead at Southwest Airlines University.  He was part of the original leadership team focused on centralizing training for Southwest Airlines, provided leadership for a team of curriculum designers and developers, and managed customer service/hospitality training for over 54,000 employees.  Additionally, Robbins has been a guest speaker at several SCCA National Conventions.

“The SCCA has been part of my life since childhood, attending SCCA events in Ponca City and Salina with my dad,” Robbins said.  “It’s now an honor to join the staff of one of the most recognized brands in motorsports to actively engage Region Leadership, Members, Staff and Stakeholders in service of growing SCCA participation and membership.”

Joining the SCCA in 2007, Robbins is a member of the Texas Region and served from 2012 to 2014 as the Region’s Membership Chair where he produced a quarterly newsletter, fielded questions about SCCA membership and Texas Region activities, and acted as Region ambassador at autocross, road racing and car show events.  He is an active autocrosser who also participates in Club Trials.

Michael Cobb, SCCA’s President and CEO, said, “Chris is a great addition to the SCCA team as we work to accomplish our Mission of fueling a safe, fun and exciting motorsports experience for auto enthusiasts. His professional ‘tool box’ and leadership experience of over 20 years at Southwest Airlines certainly provides him with a unique set of skills which can be fully leveraged in support of serving our Members and those that serve our Members.”

The Sports Car Club of America®, Inc., founded in 1944, is a 67,500-member motorsports organization that incorporates all facets of autocross, rally and road racing at both Club and professional levels. With headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, the SCCA annually sanctions over 2,000 events through its 116 Regions and subsidiary divisions. Much of the SCCA’s activities are made possible with support from the following Official Partners: Chevrolet, the Official Truck of the SCCA; Hawk Performance, the Official Brake Products of SCCA; Mobil 1, the Official Oil of SCCA; Sunoco, the Official Fuel of SCCA; and Tire Rack, the Official Tire Retailer of SCCA. To learn more, please visit www.scca.com.

Photo: Chris Robbins

Chris is a very intelligent guy who I believe will do a lot in helping regions build their programs through better membership recruiting. Successful regions mean better race events. A region is only as good as its' volunteer core.

I met Chris and spoke to him at a National convention just after Southwest Airlines had acquired Air Tran. We spoke about some of the work ahead in weeding out Air Tran employees who always seemed to be having a bad day. Well, he was good to his word because I've seen a 200% improvement on how the employees based in Atlanta treat their customer now compared to the old Air Tran. I used Air Tran twice a week for 30 weeks a year because of convenience and price, not their employees. Now I fly Southwest for all three reasons.

Looking forward to working with Chris.