Fort Collins Food Co-Operative Board of Directors Meeting
Monday Sept. 25, 2017; 6-8:00 pm.
Room # 213 Statistics Bldg., SW corner of the Oval, CSU Campus
Minutes by Ed Secor
Attending:
BOD: Ed Secor, Amber Lamb, Ruth Inglis-Widrick, Cindy Griffin, Maria Winnie
IGMT: Trinity Bigford, Oakley Davis
Member/Owners: (none)
Note—official actions (votes) in italics, other action items in bold.
No Quorum: discussion meeting only.
Meeting began at 6:04 p.m.
1. Member Owner input (if no MOs present, sharing of MO input garnered by BOD members)
Board member reported: A couple who lives within walking distance of the Co-op, but does not shop there much offered thoughts for what they would like to see: “European Market” look—flowers near front of store, different kinds of breads & cheeses. One clerk does not greet or smile, does not lead customers to location of sought items, as any clerk in Whole Foods would. Feedback from IGMT—esthetic aspects would be great; if “European Market” means no groceries, this would not be a direction that would satisfy most Member Owners.
Board member: Ideas of presentation of cheeses, flowers could be opportunities for partnerships w/ Crash Cuisine (vegan cheeses in Loveland), local florists, etc.
2. Agenda – Propose changes to agenda
Add to Jean’s loan report Ruth’s update on her meeting today with SBDC.
Move 5c to after 5e.
3. Consent Agenda- Approve or pull from Consent Agenda and highlight issues to discuss at a future time:
a. August 2017 minutes
b. P8 Report (not done)
c. M Reports (not done)
d. X7 Report
Some discussion of issues raised in the X7 Report: Question of how IGMT can raise concerns on BOD meeting its own policies. Sometimes they do not get the P&M reports at all, and often these reports are late getting out anyhow. IGMT could request to pull report from Consent Agenda. Even better—BOD should meet its deadlines in getting out agenda items; there is really no excuse for not getting our work done on time. May be need for some better documentation outlining procedures and expectations of Directors. Also suggestion to move online communication to a forum format rather than email. Maria will look into some options (and also volunteered to moderate such a forum). IGMT offers that BOD has a budget, so if we find a tool that costs a small monthly subscription, it should be doable.
4. IGMT input
a. Store Update – Questions/comments from IGMT and BOD
Getting ready for loan meeting and inventory at end of month.
b. Financial Report – Questions from BOD
Brief clarification of
5. BOD Agenda
a. Update from Jean on loan acquisition – Identify next steps and vote if timely
Jean and others to meet with Blue Credit Union on Friday.
Ruth met with Fred Burmont of the Small Business Development Center (retired CPA and business owner). He is happy to be a direct resource and meet with anyone from the Co-op. There are also workshops available at the SBDC—one free one coming up on “How to Prep and Pitch Your Loan” on Oct 4. Ruth got a handout on Borrower’s Questions for the Banker, and Banker’s Questions for the Borrower. Amber will send image of this handout to all BOD/IGMT. Bank may want to see 3-5 year strategic plan, which was on Visioning Committee’s agenda. Visioning Committee can develop framework for strategic plan to minimize IGMT workload.
We need to show the member owners that we still care about the building. 70% of proposed loan will go to new equipment, other 30% will go to exterior and interior facelifts, and to provide space for conversations to take place without blocking the aisles.
Will aim for meeting with Mike (Cindy’s husband), Maria, someone from IGMT to determine scope and schedule for strategic plan, and associated documents—mission statement, vision.
Vision = where you are
Mission = where you are going
Strategic Plan = how to manifest the mission
b. Update from Maria on special projects – Identify next steps
i. Project to Contact MOs/Shoppers to Identify MO Interests and Solicit Feedback
Maria has been thinking about different ways to ask neutral questions of Member Owners, rather than leading questions. Maria will send out proposed questions for review by BOD and IGMT. IGMT will provide list of MOs based on some set of criteria. Three groups to contact: personal friends or acquaintances of BOD members; $1,000-$2,000/year shoppers; and >$2,000/yr shoppers. There may be slightly different questions for each of the three groups.
ii. Crowd-funding
On pause—until we understand where we are with the loan, it doesn’t make sense to get too far ahead.
c. Formation of Student and Senior memberships at reduced rates –BOD discussion with input from IGMT
Tabled.
d. Update from Ruth on Election Committee – Set date of “Beverages with the Board”
Beverages with the Board is Friday Oct 13, 6-8pm at Wolverine Farm. The Election Committee will consist of Ruth, Cindy, Steve, and Patrick Gill. The store will post any materials that committee generates. The store will also buy first beverage for all attendees.
e. Update from Ruth/Maria on IGMT Evaluation -Identify next steps
Maria will looked at documents from previous GM evaluations to see how the individual GMs were evaluated, and make recommendations on how to make adjustments to work for our situation—thinking about a two pronged approach that would look some at individual performance or issues, and also at performance of team as a whole. Individual interviews and comments would also be good feedback for the IGMT. Getting staff feedback on the IMGT performance is also critical; the IGMT can provide the forms that they use for reviewing the staff, for the staff to use to evaluate the GMT. Feedback, constructive criticism and praise as well, will help the GMT, as they have been working for two years without an in-store boss.
Ed and Amber will help with evaluation process. IGMT will get staff feedback process under way. Individual team member evaluations can happen at various times during, say November and early December, and the whole team evaluation will be during the Dec. BOD meeting.
f. Review of the meeting Input from IGMT and BOD on meeting process
Good meeting—Good discussion; Amber kept us on track for the most part, and decided specifically to allow some helpful discussion to continue that was a little off track.
g. Announcements and Schedule mid-month meeting if needed
Cindy is working with Stephanie on annual meeting planning. Consensus is that the Taco Bar would be the best option for the catering. Ruth will contact Rob at Avo’s to confirm the Taco Bar.
Meeting closed at 8:10 pm.