SANTA ANA, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 25, 2012) - The Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America (OCBSA) has established a new Board of Regents that will help provide strategic vision to the non-profit. Seven individuals will make up the inaugural Founder's Circle of The Board of Regents to advise and lend their support to OCBSA through volunteerism, counsel and mentorship. They will also serve as professional role models for the scouts.

"The exceptional men that make up the Board of Regents are a powerful example of boy scouting today," said Rob Neal, incoming Chairman of the Board, OCBSA. "They offer young men a positive set of role models who can help reinforce the type of values and goals we believe in teaching our scouts."

The Board of Regents is made up of individuals who have a proven track record of support for the OCBSA and the community as a whole including George Argyros, founder of Arnel & Affiliates; Tim Busch, founder of Pacific Hospitality Group; Parker Kennedy, Chairman of the Board for The First American Corporation; Tom Larkin, Vice Chairman at The TCW Group, Inc.; Thomas V. McKernan, CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California; Rob Neal, Senior Managing Partner for Hager Pacific Properties; and Jeff Herrmann, Scout Executive for the OCBSA.

"Society is losing the core value of what it means to be a man in today's world," said Jeff Herrmann. "The Board of Regents aims to re-instill valuable lessons of commitment and responsibility that may be missing from other places of learning."

According to Herrmann, every participating Regent is committed to a mission of teaching and demonstrating how the values of scouting should shape a successful life. The group has plans to create a leadership symposium in 2012 as well as other mentorship opportunities.

The inaugural Board of Regents is made up of seven philanthropic and business leaders across Orange County:

George Argyros, investor and property icon, began his career in the grocery business before eventually moving into real estate. In 1968, he founded Arnel & Affiliates where he currently serves as chairman and CEO, managing 5,500 apartments and 2 million square feet of commercial space in southern California. Argyros also owns private equity firm Westar Capital and is the leading investor in software development firm DST Systems. He is also the former owner of pro baseball's Seattle Mariners, board member of Pacific Mercantile Bancorp, and former Ambassador to Spain and Principality of Andorra from November 2001 to 2004.

Timothy Busch is the founder, CEO and a practicing tax and estate attorney for Pacific Hospitality Group. Mr. Busch possesses an extensive finance, legal, and management background. A devout Catholic, Busch is nationally known for his involvement with the Catholic Church, well-known as chairman and chief executive of St. Anne School in Laguna Niguel and for cofounding JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano with his wife in 2003.

Jeff Herrmann has been the Scout Executive for the OCBSA since 2010. Mr. Herrmann has more than 20 years of implementing and completing successful fundraising efforts, maximizing growth in both youth and adult memberships and directing the development of staff. In all, he brings 30 years of professional Boy Scout responsibilities and experiences to the helm in Orange County. Herrmann earned the Eagle Scout award in 1973.

Parker Kennedy is Chairman of the Board for The First American Corporation, president of The Fletcher Jones Foundation and chairman emeritus at CoreLogic Inc. Mr. Kennedy graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1970 and received his Law degree from Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, in 1973.

Thomas Ernest Larkin, Jr. is the Vice Chairman at The TCW Group, Inc. Mr. Larkin is a Director at the Automobile Club of Southern California, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, and the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. He is a Trustee of the University of Notre Dame, Loyola Marymount University, and Mount Saint Mary's College.

Thomas V. McKernan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest AAA-affiliated motor club in the country. He is immediate past Chairman of the Orange County chapter of the New Majority, an organization that promotes fiscally responsible government and supports inclusive, mainstream political approaches. Mr. McKernan also serves on the board of directors of the California Chamber of Commerce and on the corporate boards of Payden and Rygel Mutual Funds, Forest Lawn Memorial Parks Association and First American Financial Corporation.

Rob Neal is the Senior Managing Partner for Hager Pacific Properties, a Southern California-based national owner of more than $1 billion of industrial, commercial, and multi-family properties. Mr. Neal serves as the current Vice Chairman and is the incoming Chairman of the Board for the OCBSA. Rob is the outgoing Chairman of the Board of the Magis Institute of Reason and Faith, a past member of the Foundation Board of Catholic Relief Services and is a member and past officer of Legatus, an international Catholic fellowship of CEOs and business owners.

About The Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be "Prepared. For Life™." The Scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in nearly 300 local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org.