UKIAH NATURAL FOODS
(A.K.A. THE HOMESTEAD EXCHANGE)
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The regular meeting of the Ukiah Natural Foods Board of Directors was
convened on Monday, March 12, 2007, 6 PM, at the NCO Meeting Room, 481
South State St, Ukiah CA.
Call to Order President Dan Hamburg called the meeting to order at 6:10
pm.
Board Members Ross Beck, Secretary (absent)
Adam Gaska
George Gibbs
Dan Hamburg, President
Jacquie Lee
MaryLou Leonard (absent)
Terry Nieves, Vice President
Don Sanderson, Treasurer
Joe Wildman
Staff Lori Rosenberg.
Member-owners Ed Nieves
INTRODUCTIONS None.
MEMBER COMMENTS
None.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND MINUTES
Agenda Approval M/S/C (Nieves, Gibbs) To approve the agenda for the March
12 board meeting.
Approval of 2/12/07
Minutes M/S/C (Gibbs, Wildman) To approve the minutes from the February
12 board meeting.
SECRETARY’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
None.
GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
Lori’s report was sent out electronically prior to the meeting.
The following topics were discussed:
• The New Member packet is finished and is being given to all members;
Lori brought a sample for the board to look at.
• A Human Resources Assistant position is now open and a space has
been created for this position upstairs. An Outreach Assistant will be
added when additional space is available.
ACTION ITEMS
M/S/C (Wildman, Gaska) The Education/Outreach committee will
plan and carry out informal “Dinner with the Board” events
in which selected members will be invited to join the board for a dinner,
provided and paid for by the Co-op, and discussion of pertinent issues
relating to the store.
BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS
Board Education/Outreach
& Membership Terry reported on the following topics:
• The No-GMO project has been handed over to the staff.
• The board will have a table at the Good Food Fest (the Co-op’s
Annual Meeting) in April.
• The committee discussed the Dinner with the Board idea and a pricing
workshop (see New Business).
Donations & Grants The committee reported that the grant application
packet is just about ready; language needs to be added to the document
stating that “priority will be given to new applicants and those
not awarded a grant in 2006.”
Elections &
Nominations The committee reported on the following topics:
• The Candidate’s Forum was held and went smoothly.
• The committee is getting ready to count the ballots; Joe is seeking
volunteers from those board members who are not running in the election
to assist counting the ballots. The count will be supervised by Robertson,
Cahill. The cost of hiring the accounting firm should come in about $1000
less than last year.
• Joe has received six calls from members about the ballot; a few
were angry that the bylaw issues could not be voted upon separately.
Finance The committee met and discussed the following:
• The finalized year-end financials of the store were looked at;
the Co-op showed strong returns for 2006.
• The idea of a pricing workshop was touched on briefly; this topic
will be discussed in more depth at future meetings when Terry is able
to be in attendance.
• George will generate some minutes from the meeting and get them
out to the board soon.
Governance Joe will begin researching patronage refunds vs. discounts
at the register. Lori recommends an article on patronage refunds written
by Bill Gessner in the latest issue of the Cooperative Grocer.
Local Food Security The committee met with Jim Xerogeanes and Dan Jenkins
of Mendocino College; some of the topics discussed included:
• Jim and Dan offered advice on how to best get projects accomplished
at the college.
• Don and Dan will work up a curriculum for a “sellable”
college organic agricultural program. Don hopes to have a working copy
together in about two months.
• The program could be used for job training, for people on probation
or in drug recovery programs, etc.
• Although it may take several years to get the program up and running,
Jim may apply for a Co-op grant to help get the program started this year;
his grant application would receive some preference from the Donations
and Grants committee.
• It will not take two years to have the college land certified
as organic as is typical; Jim will have organic certification as soon
as he files the paperwork.
NEW BUSINESS
Effective Co-op
Leadership Terry, Joe, and Jacquie will be attending the Co-op Leadership
seminar in Seattle with Lori on April 28. The group will leave on Friday
and return on Sunday.
GM employment
contract This item will be placed on the April agenda as MaryLou was not
present.
Dinner with
the Board The following topics were discussed:
• This idea was brought to the board by Susan Grelock who learned
about it from the Bellingham, WA Co-op.
• The Board of the Bellingham Co-op holds regular informal dinners
in which select members are invited to eat and discuss topics relevant
to the Co-op. They have sent the Co-op a list of possible topics.
• The Dinner with the Board event could be used as an outreach tool;
prospective committee and/or board members could be invited and encouraged
to join committees or run for the board.
• Joe made a motion and Adam seconded it (see Action Items) directing
the Education/Outreach committee to pursue informal dinners, paid for
by the Co-op, with selected members on specific topics.
• Some questions such as what size group would be invited, where
the dinners would be held (restaurants or at someone’s home), and
could the board use its discretionary funds to pay for the dinner were
discussed; the committee will do more planning around this issue.
• For the first dinner, Jacquie may prepare the meal and use the
outside area at Local Flavor as a meeting place.
Discussion of pricing
workshop The idea of holding a pricing workshop was raised by a member
at the January Member Gathering. The following items were discussed:
• The July Member Gathering could be a forum for discussing this
issue with the membership.
• Lori will be writing an article for an upcoming newsletter regarding
the issue of how products are priced in the store covering topics such
as cost of goods, expenses, margins, etc.
• It was suggested that the store attempt to see what items shoppers
feel they must purchase elsewhere because of high prices, and possible
try to offset prices on those particular items. Lori responded that this
is already occurring.
• Joe proposed that the July Member Gathering have pricing as the
focused topic; emphasizing why prices are what they are not how to lower
prices. The agenda should be set in advance, at future board meetings
to allow a dialog with members to explain the Co-op’s pricing strategies.
DIRECTOR COMMUNICATIONS
Director Reports None.
Board Agenda GM Employment contract (see New Business).
MEMBER COMMENTS
None.
CLOSED SESSION
The board went into closed session at 7 p.m.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be March 12, 2007 at 6
p.m. at the NCO meeting room. |