Gabe Wand – Biography

Gabe Wand is chairman of USTA District 4 and a Director since 2010. He began training horses at age 11 with his father and has been in the industry for over 25 years. He continues to race horses in District 4 as part of a father-son duo. In 2016, he broke the all-time driving record in Wisconsin, by capturing his 8th Driver of the Year title. He has owned or trained four Pacers of the Year and one Trotter of the Year in the Badger State. Gabe, and his father Robert, were honored by the WHHA with the 2016 James Laird Memorial Award for Excellence.

Gabe was the youngest person elected to the Wisconsin Harness Horse Association board of directors. He has been the president of the WHHA for the past 13 years; an effective leader of an organization that raises their own funding for all horsemen’s purses, marketing, and operating expenses. Due to his dedication and accomplishments at the grass-roots level, Gabe received the 2013 USTA President’s Award given by President Phil Langley. He is also a member of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, Iowa Harness Horsemen’s Association and Minnesota Harness Racing, Inc.

He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration, management and human resources from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He has been employed since graduating college by Swiss Valley Farms, a dairy cooperative that ships cheese worldwide. His employment experience includes sales, marketing, and operational management for the company.

Gabe Wand – Candidate’s Platform

In the past 28 years, there have been two members to hold the position as President of the United States Trotting Association. In addition, the current Chairman of the Board has held his position for a decade. As our industry has endured much change, our Executive Board has not. With that said, this election may be the most pivotal in the history of the USTA. As a current executive committee member and chairman of District 4, I have recognized that our industry is in an extremely fragile state, and we can no longer be status quo. I look forward to serving our members and accept the challenge to lead our Board of Directors to a successful future while working closely with the newly elected President.

My tenure on the board, as well as regular contact with many USTA members and Directors, have provided insight on things we can do to better represent our membership. Let me outline just a few examples below:

• Communication: Good communication is the key to success in every business. If it is not a controversial subject or doesn’t make the USTA Newsroom, how much do our directors know what is happening in other districts? How many of the directors knew there were contested elections in District 1 (membership), and District 8 (track)? We need to create an efficient system of information flow from each jurisdiction. For example, I am an advocate of creating a monthly/quarterly electronic communication from each district highlighting timely and pertinent information – something simple to keep directors informed about all districts. The directors should be better informed about issues of national prominence (i.e. alternative gaming, marketing, medication violations, etc.) as well as topics affecting districts with “B Tracks” and county fairs. This would help narrow missed opportunities to become a collaborative industry.
• Meeting Participation: The Full USTA Board meets once per year, with many important matters to consider. From what I have witnessed, discussion of many critical issues is rushed through; and not all directors given sufficient opportunity to fully convey their thoughts. We need to efficiently plan our meeting schedules so Directors can schedule travel arrangements that allow them to maximize their meeting participation and assure their availability to vote on all proposals. By allowing this to happen we meet both our fiscal and leadership duties, by being most efficient. It also seems as if our Executive Committee, of which I am a member, makes significant decisions on topics that should have input from the full board of directors.
• Director Accountability: I have heard from many members that our Board of 60 Directors is too large. To this I respond, let’s challenge each Director to become more involved and hold all directors accountable. Two years ago, I asked the executive committee to print the director attendance records in Hoof Beats so members were aware of their representative’s participation. This request was met with reservation by some Directors, but ultimately approved. My hope is to expand this idea even further to better inform members of how they are being represented.
  It is my hope that if we begin working on some of the issues stated above, we can more efficiently work with USTA Staff for the betterment of the USTA as a national representative organization for the harness racing industry; which will in turn benefit our members.

Should members or directors have additional questions or concerns regarding the expressed comments above or other USTA related matters, please feel free to contact me at any time.