Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
EFC Community Room, 1341 W. 26th
Kevin Schaaf called the meeting to order at 5:36pm.
Attending: President - Kevin Schaaf, Vice President -Derek Golembeski, Treasurer - Shari Gross. Directors: Amanda Gates, Sarah Parker (via Zoom), Colleen Daisley (via Zoom), Chauncey Dumbaya (via Zoom)
Staff Personnel: Chief Executive Officer/General Manager - LeAnna Nieratko , Marketing Manager - Heidi Yeagle, HR Manager - Chris Wrobel
Guests: There was one guest/staff member in attendance.
Member Owner Comments: None.
Review of Last Month’s Minutes: Liz Bugbee
The April minutes were reviewed. No additions or corrections were offered.
Motion was made by Colleen Daisley to accept the minutes as written. Sarah Parker seconded. Motion passed.
Treasurer's Report: Shari Gross
There were 28 new fully paid members and one request for return of investment, requested immediately after purchasing the membership for the reason of affordability.
There was a Finance Committee meeting May 5 via Zoom, minutes are in the board packet folder. Shari gave a few highlights from the committee discussion, including the plan to adopt the NCG Chart of Accounts, continued strong sales, and cash on hand being in compliance with NCG standards. The committee reviewed the income and expense report for January 2024 to March 2024.
The committee recommended a proposed FY 24-25 board budget that is unchanged from the previous year. Shari made a motion for the board to approve a flat board budget for FY 24-25. Derek seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion was made by Derek Golembeski to accept the Treasurer’s report. Sarah Parker seconded. Motion passed.
**CEO/GM Reporting: LeAnna Nieratko**
CEO/GM Report: LeAnna Nieratko presented her report and policy reviews. Sales continue to trend higher than last year, up 5.3% for the period. The solar eclipse drove some additional traffic early in the month. LeAnna reported that the May 8th bulk sale was again our highest volume bulk sale ever and our highest sales day ever. It was the fourth consecutive record we’ve broken for the bulk sale, and operations would like to create similar excitement and sales in other departments. Sarah Parker commended the overall positive attitude of EFC staff on the day of the bulk sale.
B1 – Financial Condition: LeAnna reported evidence of compliance with all parts of the policy. The working relationship with MPB has been strong, and LeAnna is confident about the state of our financial record keeping and feels the cleanup effort is complete. Adjustments to the last quarter resulted in a net positive income of $7,282. The co-op continues to show good positive sales growth. The Co-op’s debt-to-equity ratio is strong at .86. The store continues to show steady membership growth.
Kevin Schaaf asked about the timeline for the ERC tax payments. LeAnna shared the payment schedule. Derek Golembeski asked if the co-op has seen any increase in people requesting equity back due to the downtown store closure. LeAanna said no such requests have yet been made, and requests for equity returns have trended down overall.
B2- Planning & Financial Budgeting:
LeAnna Nieratko reported compliance with this policy. She reviewed some of the strategies outlined in the budget plan, such as adopting best practices from NCG (such as their chart of accounts), reducing admin positions by attrition, working toward more sustainable pricing strategies in our food service, the need to mine our NCG customer service survey data, and more. EFC plans to further mine our own Point of Sale data utilizing a utility/program called “Cognition” that will inform inventory and other decisions. Chauncey Dumbaya expressed concern that this could result in higher prices in the store. LeAnna said that some increases may be necessary, but the overall effort would be to try to avoid increasing prices.
Finally, LeAnna discussed the need to do capital planning for a new roof, front doors and LED lighting. She plans to aggressively pursue any available grant funds to make these improvements.
Sarah Parker expressed an interest in seeing EFC partner with local producers who have good nutrition profiles based on their growing methods. LeAnna said while EFC doesn’t have the organizational resources to do all the outreach needed for such an effort, the concept is intriguing. She and Sarah will meet offline about this topic.
Motion was made by Chauncey Dumbaya to accept the CEO/GM report and policy reviews. Derek Golembeski seconded. Motion passed.
**Board Policy Evaluation: Kevin Schaaf**
C8 - Governance Investment: All Board Members reported compliance with all sections of the policy.
Motion was made by Shari Gross to accept the policy review. Derek Golembeski seconded. Motion passed.
Board Learning: Kevin Schaaf noted that the board has yet to have a session where we discuss the format and content of the CEO/GM Reports. He and LeAnna Nieratko will plan this for a future Board Learning.
New Business:
Finance Committee and Board Budget - These items were covered as part of previous discussions.
Nominating Committee Update - Derek Golembeski is the chair of this committee. He stated he hoped to schedule a meeting before June 10 and will email the committee regarding potential days and times.
Retreat Planning - Kevin Schaaf recommended we begin planning for the board’s annual retreat earlier this year to avoid last minute decisions and schedule conflicts. Positive comments were made about the venue last year. Kevin asked that the board bring suggestions about a retreat to the next meeting. Derek Golembeski asked for it to be scheduled after August 10th so that he can participate.
**Posting/providing minutes to membership** - Kevin asked operations to make sure minutes are provided in hard copy up front at customer service, and that they be accessible via the web page. Chris Wrobel and LeAnna Nieratko agreed to make that happen.
Closure: Next board meeting is June 26, 2024 at 5:30pm.
Motion was made by Sarah Parker to adjourn the meeting. Derek Golembeski seconded. Meeting adjourned at 6:36pm.