Phoenix Earth Food Co-op (PEFC)
Minutes, Board Meeting 5/27/2015

Location: Main branch of Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, 325 Michigan St., Toledo, OH 43604; Present: Thomas Fine (arrived later), Sándor Halász, Anita Levin, Nichole Nauden, Sean Nestor, Hermann von Grafenstein, Sean Fitzgerald (General Manager). Absent: Shelly Boraby, Alyx Kendzierski. Resolutions are numbered R1–R2.

The meeting began at 5:40 pm.

1. Approval of minutes
   The minutes of the 4/22/2015 board meeting were approved (R1, 5/0/0 for/against/abstention).
2. Welcome of Sean Fitzgerald as new General Manager (GM)
   President S. Nestor welcomed Sean Fitzgerald to his new position as General Manager and encouraged him to review the Policy Register, which governs Board-GM relations. At the same time, S. Nestor reminded the Board that the Policy Register needed to be updated on a more regular basis. A debate ensued as to the binding character of board "resolutions". President Nestor felt that "resolutions" passed by a board vote that relate to the store are recommendations, but not binding "ordinances". Hermann argued that resolutions passed by the Board were binding, for example establishing new bank accounts, signing rights on accounts, etc. If a board statement were to be considered a non-binding recommendation, it would be labeled as such.

Tom Fine arrived at the meeting at 5:48pm

3. General Manager’s report

   Sean Fitzgerald presented his General-Manager’s-report. The Co-op was making good progress in paying its bills, but sales had been slower than during the same period last year. Sándor commented that membership activity was also declining.

   President Nestor’s request to GM Fitzgerald to

   • Give a report on unpaid bills at the next board meeting, including time past due.
   • Explain how he was planning to balance purchasing volume with turnover of each item. President Nestor emphasized the importance of being diligent with customer requests and follow-up.

   When asked, GM Fitzgerald summarized current staff allocation:

   Current staff allocations:

   • Supplements: Leah
   • Bulk: Robert
   • Everything else: Sean F.

   Nichole wanted to know how the rent savings were used for building improvements. GM Fitzgerald suggested painting the outside of the building with a more appealing color that would draw more attention to the building. President Nestor re-iterated that any funds dedicated to building improvements should not be used for covering operating expenses. Tom explained that time donated by volunteers should be counted towards building improvement expenses.

4. 4. Finance committee report

   Tom Fine presented his analysis of the Year-to-Date and Previous-Month2015-2014 comparison sheets. Major conclusions were

   • There was still a loss year-to-date, but much less than last year.
   • There was a 7% decline in sales, possibly due to increased competition with Kroger. Tom felt that competing just on product was not our strength. We needed to distinguish ourselves in other ways (emphasis on local, joining the Co-op community, Toledo pride, not being a large corporation…).
   • Gross profit was 7% lower than last year. The largest decline occurred in groceries.
   • Nevertheless, net profit was improved by ~$10,000 mostly due to payroll savings.
   • Past due bills were down from $10,000 to $4,000.

5. Marketing campaign

   Marketing-materials overview: President Nestor distributed a list of quotes for marketing materials from various suppliers. The total cost, everything would cost $5250.–, which should be the target of the fundraising campaign.

   Status of fundraising campaign: We had $1,350 so far, pledged by board members and Helen Elden. Phil Kaplan had originally established a go-fund-me account and was willing to continue with fundraising.

   Accounts: We needed a process for collecting money including a suitable account. We already had the Directions Account with Sean Nestor, Tom Fine and Lisa Blake as co-signers [note added by secretary: Lisa Blake had been removed after her resignation]. The account should be on line to allow for online donations and should allow check-writing. Currently we had six vendors to pay for marketing material. We also had the Relocation Account. Any money in that account should be transferred to the Directions account or the relocation account should be re-named.

   Crowd-funding resources: Crowd-funding could be done through the Indiegogo website.

6. Vacancies
   Sean reminded the Board that vacancies needed to be filled for two board members (Sean Nestor and Will Mellon) and a chair needed to be identified for the Outreach Committee. Current board members should consider becoming president.

   Nichole Nauden left the meeting

7. Outreach events

   Hermann briefly reviewed the May 2 Potluck event with University Church. About 25 people attended and it was perceived to be a worthwhile event. He also mentioned that two more outreach events were scheduled in the near future:

   • A table at the Old Westend Festival. Tom promised to volunteer for this event.
   • A table at the Art-on-the-Mall event on July 26 on the Centennial Mall of the University of Toledo.

   Hermann said that he had secured tables for both events and was setting up Doodle sign-up sheets for them.

8. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 pm (R2, 5/0/0).
   Date of next meeting: June 22, 2015, if not decided otherwise.

________________(signed)_____________________
Submitted by Hermann von Grafenstein, Secretary