Whole Foods Erie Co-op Board of Directors
MEETING AGENDA
June 23rd, 2021, 5:30-7:30pm
Zoom meeting - hosted by LeAnna Nieratko, WFC GM
Attending: President - Shari Gross, Vice - President - Alison Kaminski, Secretary - Kevin Schaaf, Treasurer - Michael Barron, Directors: Derek Golembeski, Amanda Gates, Chauncey Brown-Dumbuya, Joelyn Bush and Gretchen Fairley
Staff Personnel: General Manager- LeAnna Nieratko, Heidi Yagle - Marketing Manager (Board Learning)*,** Newly Hired Marketing Specialist* - Kendrick Tate, Board Assistant - Alethea Bodine
Guests: Abdullah Washington, Kendrick Tate
Introductions:
Comments from Member/Owners:
Abdullah Washington shared that he was excited as the WFC embarks on this new task of bringing healthier food options to the downtown corridor.
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ADDENDUM: Summary of movement from June 9, 6:00-7:15 pm Work Session Meeting:
S. Gross offered a brief rundown of what new members can expect at tonight’s meeting and the next board of directors meeting.
Orientation for New Directors would be conducted at a time when all new directors could attend. Board Education: Chad Seblink, Operations Manager
Chad started by sharing that he was planning to change his job title to ‘SUPER’, as a good friend of his - at another Coop - uses. He mentioned his Wish List for Operations; new flooring tiles, a new kitchen floor and drain, the parking lot and possibly re-doing the ceiling (removing the drop ceiling). Chad is also focusing on reducing turnover in the new year. He feels the Cafe team is one of the strongest teams they’ve had in the six years he’s worked there.
Discussion: S. Gross responded that all his Wish List items are very relevant. L. Nieratko is currently writing for a grant to fix the Parking Lot. A. Gates asked what the timeline would be for these projects. J. Bush asked how much of the shared parking lot and entry/exit thoroughfares was the WFC responsibility. G. Fairley asked if other tenants would be willing to financially support or offer suggestions for parking/transit repairs.
Reformation of Committees: S. Gross gave directors a brief explanation of the directives and responsibilities of Standing Committees. They offered to join or chair accordingly. An updated listing of WFC BOD Committee Roster, 2021 is now available.
**ZOOM Meetings: S. Gross** asked the directors to contact her personally if they had issues with attending all meetings in person moving forward.
AGENDA:
Review of Last Month’s Minutes; Secretary
D. Golembeski motioned to approve May minutes as written. C. Dumbuya seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.
Treasurer's Report
For the month of May we had 22 new member owners and 6 refund requests. Most Member/Owners requesting a refund of their equity were moving from the area. The total equity balance for the year 2020-2021 is above $675,000.
C. Dumbuya motioned to approve the Treasurer's Report. K. Schaaf seconded. There was no further discussion, all were in favor. Motion passed.
GM Reports; L. Nieratko
FYIs:
Café Upgrades:
The WFC will have some expenses in the month of June for necessary equipment upgrades in the café including a blender and a new cover for the made-to-order (MTO) sandwich lines. The total cost will be approximately $2,000.
Upcoming Event:
On July 1st from 4:30-7pm, the EDDC will be holding a press conference to announce the market Vendors in the Flagship Market space. The WFC Food Truck, SorcErie, will be there. Ops Staff is looking at ways to incentivize board/staff attending the event.
Expansion Project Updates:
LeAnna will be writing and sharing a blog post about the name change to Erie Food Coop. The rebranding process will be running in tandem with the Expansion Project. She shared that she would like to keep a log of what is happening via Google Sheets on a shared drive.
Best Specialty Food Service Award
The WFC has been nominated for another award.
Sales
Sales for May were up 1% to last year at $406,052. This is with traffic up 37%. Dramatic increases in traffic trends are anticipated with the continued re-expansion of the store and café. D. Moffit has agreed to work with LeAnna to create an employee incentive program when sales are met - bringing the percentage of sales to labor closer to 23% of operating cost, away from 25%.
Net income for May was $13,928 which is healthy. The average net income for May over the past five years has been - $5,005. Despite good income performance, labor hours remain quite high. Twelve employees have been hired in the last 90 days, which has contributed to some of the higher percentages. Additionally, the GM’s time has been split between the Expansion Project and the current
location. The business plan for the month of July has actionable steps to address this. The cash balance for May ended at $284,443 which equates to 29 days ‘Cash on hand’.
M. Barron motioned to approve the GM Sales Report for May 2021. A. Gates seconded. There was no further discussion. Motion passed.
Policy: B2 – Compensation and Benefits: GM Reporting
In May 2020 we completed a United States Department of Labor Compliance Review, surrounding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Here is a statement from our attorney Craig Zonna via email on May 11th, 2020: “I queried the DOL Representative, Tricia M Desanti-Boehm… Upon completion of the Review, she confirmed that there were no violations of the FLSA.”
The WFC average wage, when compared with local numbers, is competitive but Erie wages remain under national averages for bigger chain store markets.
The operations team is asking the Board to consider the verbiage of this policy to reflect changes in performance management practices since the adoption of this policy. All employees receive an annual raise in October that is based on the store’s performance. The minimum raise always includes a cost-of-living increase.
Discussion: G. Fairley asked for clarification about “SPLH” on a chart that was presented. LeAnna responded that the “Sales Per Labor Hour” is a dollar amount, not a sales transaction amount.
C. Dumbuya asked why the graphic presented did not include 2020 in terms of sales. LeAnna replied that she was still struggling with comparing the store numbers from the previous season. Due to the repercussions of the Pandemic, nearly every aspect of sales and operations has been affected for the FY20/21.
D. Golembeski motioned to approve the GMs Policy Reporting on Policy: B2 – Compensation and Benefits. C. Dumbuya seconded. There was no further discussion. All were in favor. Motion passed.
Board Policy Evaluation - D6 - Board Committee Principles; Secretary
Newest board members reported difficulty in finding the Board Policy on the shared drive. A. Kaminski responded by saying she would ask IT manager, J. Mucio, to investigate access for new email accounts.
C. Dumbuya motioned to approve the Board Policy Reporting on D6 - Board Committee Principles. D. Golembeski seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.
Board Learning: Heidi Yagel & Kendrick Tate Marketing Manager & Specialist
Heidi shared she has been receiving some re-branding concepts from a new designer, but she has been reticent to share - as she has not been happy with the progress. So she returned to the previous and original designer for the current WFC logo. She went on to share that June brought Pride celebrations and further announced that the WFC would be participating in the “Re-Leaf Program” in which the WFC will be collecting donations to purchase a tree from the Erie Food Co-op Community. For
$1,000, the Lake Erie Arboretum will plant a new tree in the arboretum that will bear a 6″ x 8″ plaque placed at the tree listing the common name and Latin name, as well as an inscription determined by the donor. The type of tree chosen by the donor from LEAF’s list of desired trees. $500 of the gift is also placed in LEAF Endowment Fund at the Erie Community Foundation to ensure the maintenance of the tree in perpetuity.
She will soon be learning if we’ve been accepted for the WIC Program. Heidi shared the Community Center plans to re-open to the public Aug. 1st with a slate of in person classes starting in Sept.
G. Fairley raised the prospect of reconnecting with a previous LEAF initiative tree planting program that may have been forgotten over time.
J. Bush mentioned that she saw a reaction to “Prime Day” that was begun from a local vendor. Heidi responded that the Coop will be fair game to participate in combating “Prime Day” after the new name and re-branding is finished.
New Business:
New Member / Director Orientation Plan
Wed. July 21st at 5:00 pm. During this meeting Ops will also make another presentation regarding the new location Expansion Project.
Policy Guidance Committee Report; S. Gross
The Committee has met and is working on fine tuning the new CBLD template. Shari will be passing the position of chair on to Michael. The next meeting is July 18.
Retreat Date/Topics: K. Schaaf
Molly and Leslie of Columinate are available Aug. 7 & 8 / Sept. 11 & 12 or Oct. 2 & 3 He is asking everyone to respond to the Doodle Poll he has sent - by Friday 6/25, so the Retreat can be planned. Kevin also added that there are several ways to execute the Retreat. The Board discussed their options and landed on attending in person.
Finance Committee Report; M. Barron
Michael shared the WFC group of accountants, McGill, Powers & Bell are very competent. The role of the Finance Committee is to review the information they provide. Shari asked LeAnna if there was anything she has requested and not yet received. LeAnna shared that she would like to receive the information in a timelier manner. She has often received information on the day her reports are due.
GM Evaluation Committee will be meeting June 24.
Capital Campaign Committee will be meeting on this ZOOM call after the Board meeting and plan to meet in person in the Community Room Wed. at 4 pm weekly thereafter.
Applications for Board Elections and Annual Meeting, confirmation of dates
Oct. 24 has been projected as the Annual Meeting Date. Shari suggested that the date be moved to the first Sunday in Oct. in an effort to allow for greater time for the new directors to meet and talk with the member owners. Ideas were discussed in increasing attendance, coupling events associated with the
re-branding, to Erie Food Coop. Ideas like holding an Open House or calling the Annual Meeting a “Bonanza”were raised. LeAnna offered up the notion of holding the Annual Meeting at the new store location. Shari asked if the Member Linkage Committee could collaborate with the Capital Campaign Committee to come up with a timeline for the Nominating Committee.
Closings:
No Mid-month work session in July. Shari asked that directors keep Wednesday August 11th at 6pm open for board discussion, resolution or movement if necessary.
Next regular board meeting will be held in the Community Center on July 28, 2021 at 5:30 pm.
The President called for a motion to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 pm without further discussion.
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Minutes respectfully submitted for edit, A. Bodine ~ 6/23/21, 7/19/21