Board of Directors
MEETING MINUTES
November 30, 2022 / 5:30-7:30pm
Hosted in EFC Community Room, 1341 W. 26th
Attending: President - Shari Gross, Secretary - Kevin Schaaf; Directors: Amanda Gates, Liz Bugbee, Derek Golembeski (attended late), Chauncey Dumbya Brown (Attending via Zoom), Wren Holquist, Sarah Parker, Colleen Daisley; Board Assistant - Alethea Bodine
Staff Personnel: Chief Executive Officer/General Manager - LeAnna Nieratko; Marketing Manager - Heidi Yeagle, HR Manager - Chris Wrobel
Guests: There were no guests in attendance
AGENDA:
Shari Gross called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM.
Review of Last Month’s Minutes; Kevin Schaaf
Motion was made by Liz to accept the October 2022 Minutes as written. Amanda seconded. There was no discussion. Motion passed.
Treasurer's Report; tabled for next meeting
CEO/GM Reporting; LeAnna Nieratko
B 8: Board Logistical Support
The CEO/GM manages the content of a Drive for directors to reference all documents except CEO/GM performance or sensitive Board matters. At least 2 hours every month are allocated to a Board Assistant role for the purpose of capturing meeting minutes and other duties as requested by the Board. Additionally, our IT manager and Marketing Manager have assisted with Board functions as needed.
The Co-op uses Google Suite for communication and provides the Board with email addresses to communicate, chat, add/edit/access items on the Drive.
The documents on the Drive under “Guiding Documents” are up-to-date and accessible to the email addresses of all current Board Directors. Directors may also request printed copies of all board related documents.
Board Actions can be found in the minutes we keep at the front desk, from 2012 to the most current approved minutes. Meetings, activities and events are found in our newsletter, in-store signage and on our social media.
NOTE: Work to digitize our minutes is underway. Minutes are uploaded to the Drive and will be added onto the website after some essential technical functions surrounding the expansion project into the 2nd location are complete.
All Board documents are available on the shared Drive. All minutes, reports, policy reviews and financials are kept and archived in folders by year. Additionally, hard copies are kept in the GM/CEO office.
General Reporting:
Sales for October were up 2% to last year at $451,791. This was our 20% member-owner promotion, which we allowed member-owners to redeem once at each location. Only 96 member-owners redeemed their 20% at both locations.
October’s cash balance did trend below the threshold for days cash-on-hand throughout Qtr. 1. This is related to the cash burn of downtown operations due to required staffing and actual sales of the location. We did receive a significant pre-purchase on 11/23/22 that has brought our cash balance above the threshold for concern.
In order to maintain this, EFC continues to enact cash burn reduction steps including:
● Continued reduction of the total perishable selection by sourcing shelf-stable and items with longer perishable dates into the produce set.
● Reduced shelving in the refrigerated department
● Reduction of store hours
● Pricing updates
● Remerchandising and category resets, including end caps
26th St. is outperforming the plan by 1% for the year so far. There were 25 new member-owners sign up in this period, putting us up 24 new member-owners for the year, a 26% increase.
Sales at the Downtown location for October were $39,792 continue to be lower than anticipated. For the new business plan, $14,000 weeks were projected, but are still averaging $10,000. Continued analysis of potential customers and increasing foot traffic into the store, as well as increasing average basket sales are all strategies for increasing sales. There were 5 new member-owners sign up in October Downtown.
The primary expenses for Downtown are labor and inventory. Our labor is currently at 69%, with inventory costs on perishables continuing to be very high. Both levers are controllable and manageable but take changes in process that take time. There has been a reduction in our perishable product mix and changes have been made in scheduling strategies to adapt while we try to increase sales. Produce continues to be a draw for Downtown, with challenges around maintaining an adequate selection without significant spoilage.
**FYIs**
In EFC’s work towards a living wage, per our Ends, the administration and management enacted a wage scale increase that became effective October 23rd. Starting wage for part-time is now $14/hr, and $15 for full-time; this is up from $12 previously. All staff are eligible for additional per hour differentials for taking on additional training and responsibilities.
Two of the most important pay differentials include:
● Additional pay for staff willing to be trained and work at both locations. This allows us to keep a leaner, higher paid staff so that we don’t have over staff for hours coverage. ● Additional pay for managers to opt-in to coordinating their department between stores so we can have more consistency. For example, our food service manager is overseeing recipes, production planning and training for both locations.
10/14 - Feature on Jet/YourErie for feature on local eggs: We were able to get a new local vendor from this: Brown’s Backyard Birds.
10/21 - Began working with Audrey Griffin from Columinate to help with our data clean up. 10/23 - Held our Annual Meeting at the Downtown Store.
10/27 - Red Cross First Responder training for Managers and Leads.
10/29 - Participated in Flagship Trick or Treating and had 350 trick or treaters!
11/3 & 4 - Visit with Brandon Kane, GM support from Columinate. His recommendations included immediate pricing updates and a longer term category reset.
11/5 - 12 - Large scale price updates through the store.
11/21 - EDDC bought 267 pies for construction site workers and residents.
11/23 - Erie Insurance prepaid 200k to stabilize our cash balance.
Upcoming Events:
12/1 - Meal Kits will be offered on Toast. These are free delivery and are in the prepare-at-home style similar to Blue Apron or Hello Fresh. We update them to new meals every week with 20 guaranteed sales for Downtown location.
12/3 - Flagship City is hosting a Winter Wonderland Event downtown from 11-3pm. EFC will offer “Make your own Reindeer Food,” Lots of Flagship vendors are participating.
12/4 - OpenedEyes will return, with Gabby Davis, Racial Equity & Food Justice Manager from NCG. We’re going to discuss our biases around food: what is considered healthy? Board Directors are invited and encouraged to attend. Other Co-ops have been invited as well. This meeting will be held at the 26th location from 9-1 pm and will have coffee and breakfast. The Store will be closed
until 2 pm that day.
12/4 - Opening at 2pm so all staff can attend the morning workshop.
12/1 - 18 PROMOTION: $10 off of $50 or $25 off of $100! Can be redeemed once at each location. 12/14 - 1/3 PROMOTION: Huge buy-one-get-one sale on Field Day Products
Discussion:.
Motion was made by Derek to accept the GM’s Report and compliance with B 8: Board Logistical Support and General Reporting. Liz Bugbee seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.
Board Policy Evaluation: Shari Gross
Presentation: Policy Governance Principles
Shari presented information to the Board regarding the 10 Policy Governance principles. The principles are a framework for the Board’s work and a guide for decision making, collaboration, accountability, and purpose.
Board Learning: Shari Gross
Upcoming Columinate Sessions
Shari asked that all Directors sign up for the Financial Health session with Columinate. The program is an hour and fifteen minutes once a week for four weeks. Additionally, there are a variety of workshops available for Directors to attend.
Review Officer Roles
Shari reviewed C-6: Officers’ Roles. She shared that new Directors are not required to hold a seat as an officer in their first year of service.
Review Board Committee Guidelines
Shari reviewed C-7: Board Committee Principles as well as descriptions of the current standing committees. Committee Chairs are expected to help conduct and report on Committee work, as needed.
New Business:
Risk Assessment from NCG: Shari Gross & LeAnna Nieratko
The process is ongoing. It is an agreement between NCG and the Coop that assists the Coop in meeting their fiscal goals as a new store.
Elections for Officers of the Board
A new slate of Officers was elected and is as follows:
President - Shari Gross
Vice President - Kevin Schaaf
Treasurer - Derek Golembeski
Secretary - Liz Bugbee
Reform Board Committees
Board Finance Committee: Derek Golembeski (Chair), Chauncey Dumbuya, Amanda Gates, Colleen Daisley
Board Nomination Committee: Chauncey Dumbuya (Chair), Wren Holquist, Sarah Parker Member Linkage Committee: Wren Holquist (Chair), Derek Golembeski, Colleen Daisley Bylaws and Policy Committee: Shari Gross (Chair), Liz Bugbee, Kevin Schaaf, Colleen Daisley Board and CEO/GM Cooperating Committee: Shari Gross (Chair), Chauncey Dumbuya, Liz Bugbee Orientation of New Directors
Orientation of new Directors will be coordinated by Kevin as part of the Vice President’s responsibilities.
Closure:
● Shari asked that the DIrectors be present for a Columinate call coming up Friday, December 2nd. She will be sending invitations to those that expressed interest.
● Shari also asked how the board felt about conducting Zoom Meetings. The Directors agreed to continue meeting in person with the option for hybrid attendance.
● Next Board Meeting Dec. 28th 5:30 pm at 1341 W. 26th Street Community Room.
● Upcoming PG reviews:
○ CEO/GM - B1 - Financial Condition
○ Board Policies -
■ D1 - Unity of Control
■ D2 - Account- ability of the CEO/GM
Motion was made by Liz Bugbee to adjourn the meeting. Colleen seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:31 PM.
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Minutes respectfully submitted for addition and revision by Alethea Bodine, 12/14/22