Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 5/16/19

Location: Santa Rosa

Time: 3pm-5pm

Called to Order: 3:20

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben

 

Board Members Absent: Alicia Murguia, Jordan Newhart

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present: Lupe Aguilera Gomez

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus 5/16/19

 

Announcements and updates:

 

For the SBA Loan 

Please be advised that your loan request has been approved.  Before proceeding with the preparation of your loan closing documents, we need specific documentation to confirm your eligibility. 

 

BYLAWS

~ Please include a signed copy of the By-Laws.

 

RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

~Please include a copy of the Board Resolution that states Board's approval to apply for the SBA loan and identifies at least two agents or officers authorized to encumber the Corporation.

 

In order to assure prompt disaster loan assistance, we request that you forward the information as soon as possible.

 

Proposal: Lisa Waltenspiel proposes that Melissa Minton, as corporate president, and Jess Williams, as corporate secretary,  are approved to apply for a SBA Flood Relief loan not to exceed $150,000.00. Myranda seconds the motion. Approved by consensus.

GM Report:

We have been approved for a disaster-relief and recovery SBA Loan. The loan amount is $113,700. The terms are 2.75% interest for 15 years. I plan to use that money to pay off the line of credit with Summit State Bank that is at 6.5% interest. 

WE received $3000 from Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce from their flood relief fundraisers. 

Someone donated $1000 on our gofundme recently. 

We have hired Lynette Day to replace Jordan as SR Grocery/Chill manager. She comes with 20 years retail experience doing buying and store managing. 

Rebecca has started her Bulk Manager position. 

We are going to be featured on the ABC show Hearts of Heroes in regards to the flood. Not sure when that will air but i will let you know. 

We are sending out Thank you cards to the over 200 people/businesses that helped us some way to recover from the flood. 

I would like to hire for the Assistant GM position we went over last (2018) January for the succession plan. You approved the Job description but here it is again. The wage scale has been approved and on the wage tier since then. I think we can afford it by combining it with HR position and we stopped the Merchandising Manager position. We aren’t doing Lead FM anymore either. Also Tara is gone and she was making quite a bit as assistant cuz she was here for a while. With all that, the change would cost us $6240 a year. And if I could work a few less hours because of it then we would break even. Sales in SEB are still 10% below average sales (prior to flood). 

Deli consulting is just starting to pay off. We have a good schedule, almost hired to capacity, under labor budget, starting on service case, then will bring back sandwiches. 

Feedback from ‘floater’ worker indicates some inconsistency in the training process. We need a checklist to be used  for training in each department. 

Board Business and Agenda:

Aligning the Garden with our mission and values - the Garden has already begun shifting the bar culture to a focus on cafe and wellness offerings. A more family-friendly and inclusive environment is the goal.

 

We need to develop motivation and inspiration for board members. Retreats, food, fun activity, team building.  Mel strongly recommends compensation for board members.  

 

New Member Check-In: 

Committees: 

Product Policy Committee:

Edits are finalized and approved by consensus. Copies need to be posted. Send to Maja to update the website. Send to managers/buyers. Product policy meeting needs to be set for this quarter.  Myranda will try to host another meeting before the end of her board term.

Election Committee:

Election Update  - Lisa Waltenspiel, Jess Williams, Sabina Ruddell, Caleb Gutierrez, Angela “Minkoff” Timpe, Noelle Magnelli, Courtney Williams, Greg Goben, Tracey Kirk, Oliver Garifo-Green will be running for the 2019-2021 board of directors. Statements of candidacy will be posted by the end of the week. Myranda and Alicia will generate ballots and execute collection and counting of ballots. 

GM Evaluation Committee:

Send reminder to HR to put out 365 review. Lisa to share list of GM accomplishments pulled from preceding year’s GM reports in board minutes. 

Next meeting agenda items:

Election Results 

GM Review

New BOD member orientation - what should this look like? 

 

Parking Lot Items:

• Member survey to determine whether members prefer a 20% discount over adding alcohol to the current (15%) member discount

• Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

• Organic standards - certified vs local and sustainable but uncertified

• Board Vision Circle

  • Servant leadership

  • Triple Bottom Line

• Suggested guest speakers/advisors:

  • Joe Rogoff - retired from natural foods career with Co-ops, Food for Thought (the market), Whole Foods

  • Martin Hamilton - AFC (customer)

  • Gary Abriem - Grange Treasurer (customer)

  • Tom Scott

 

Meeting Adjourned: 5:15pm

Next meeting:Tuesday 6/18 3pm

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 4/18/19

Location: Sebastopol

Time: 3pm

Called to Order: 

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: 

Axel Mafra has left his position with CM. Jordan will be leaving his position 

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present: Tess Dancisak, Miho Pizzorno

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

GM Report:

We opened on April 1st. Still about 25% shy in sales. 

Restructuring grocery/chill/bulk departments again. Should save us money. 

We are at about $200k behind in bills right now. 

We have an event on Sat. - Zero Waste at Seb store, see flyers. 

May 11 is the Barlow development “Grand Re-Opening of the Barlow” 

Restructuring deli as we reopen after the flood. We have a plan to get $26k a week sales. Really structuring shifts. It’s going to take a couple months. 

I would like to talk about the tap room and drinking policy for employees.  

I’ve filed an extension for our taxes. 

 

Board Business and Agenda:

Summer business hours in SR? Greg is inquiring whether our hours (8am-9pm) are appropriate to the corresponding sales figures, considering that the JC students aren’t in school. Suggestion to open at 9am in the summer months. 

Board Elections - form committee. Alicia and Myranda are the only two members not running for re-election. They will need to be the board members to count ballots. All other BOD members will assist by getting the word out and approaching potential candidates.  Lisa will post to the Rapper and will MailChimp a flyer with the declaration of candidacy form. Declaration of candidacy forms will be put into the mailboxes of eligible workers. 

Election Committee Charter 

Green Team leadership - Tara can no longer lead the Green Team. No one has yet come forward to take on the role. 

New Member Check-In: Lisa drafted an updated list based on the Hire Dates document. 

Committees: 

Product Policy Committee: 

GM Evaluation Committee:

Next meeting agenda items:

Parking Lot Items:

• Member survey to determine whether members prefer a 20% discount over adding alcohol to the current (15%) member discount

• Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

• Organic standards - certified vs local and sustainable but uncertified

• Servant leadership

• Triple Bottom Line

• Suggested guest speakers/advisors:

  • Joe Rogoff - retired from natural foods career with Co-ops, Food for Thought (the market), Whole Foods

  • Martin Hamilton - AFC (customer)

  • Gary Abriem - Grange Treasurer (customer)

  • Tom Scott

 

Next meeting: 

Date: 5/16/19

Location: Santa Rosa

Time: 3pm-5pm

 

Check Board Calendar

Meeting adjourned: 5:10pm

Secretary sign off: LW 5/8/19

Approved on: 5/16/19

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 3/12/19

Location: SR

Time: 3:00 pm

Called to Order: 3:08

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: 

Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: 

Greg Goben, Myranda Goben

 

Quorum: Yes

 

GM Report: Physical status - walls are done, health dpt no seams allowed in food service, drywall finishing today, painters done by end of week, getting bids, plumbers came in to assess, plumbing has been sanitized, electricity on tomorrow, or assessed tomorrow. New wellness shelving, metro, wheels. Purchasing reg stands, take 2 months to order, went to auction house, olivers loaned us a truck and driver. Drove there, pretty damaged units there, we got 2. Got back late Oliver’s delivered today. No volunteers today. We assessed existing checkstands, examined them for damage and sanitized them. They will be repaired. New (used) customer service desk, display units.  Also picked up bulk bin stand $300. Cleaning and sanitizing still to do: backstock shelving. All grocery shelves and walk-in, kitchen fixtures, are sanitized. Meat/produce cooler is sanitized. 

Our Worker Relief Benefit generated $5,000. $2,000 gift cards from Oliver’s, Summit $5,000, $2,000 silent auction. Galen’s Way donated $500. Minky is volunteering her assistance with the upcoming Hopmonk fundraiser. $200 per worker cap. Someone needs to administer the funds, Lisa and Minky will work on this. 

Getting credit on water bill, no power bill, no rent until Barlow work is complete. $10,000 current gofundme total. We were unable to rebuild with the cafe build-out. Building is signed off for environmental sanitation. Hopefully open by the end of next week. Hoping to rehire as many folks as possible. Summit is deferring loan  payments for 3 months, by adding the deferred payments to the ‘end’ of the loan. 

Lisa move to approve deferred payment plan with Summit Bank. Angela Timpe seconds. Approved by consensus. 

Deadline. Describe your situation, examples, option to donate back, illness, rent, insurance, medical. 

 

Next meeting: Thursday, April 18, 3pm

Location: Sebastopol

Meeting adjourned: 4:26 pm

Secretary sign off: LW 4/8/19

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Emergency Board Meeting

Date: 3/5/19

Location: Santa Rosa Community Market

Time: 2:00 pm

Called to Order: 2:12 pm

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia, Angela Timpe present for a portion of the meeting

 

Board Members Absent: None

 

Quorum: yes

 

Guests Present: Anna Maria Gonzalez, Tess Dancisak, Caleb Gutierrez

 

GM Report

The Sebastopol store began sustaining damage as a result of impending flooding on Tuesday 2/26/19, which continued through 2/27/19. We don’t have flood insurance. We thought we were covered. Due to a clerical error/oversight we did not have coverage. Barlow is paying for structural repairs, we don’t owe rent during this period. 4 to 5 inches of water entered the building 18’ of sheetrock was damaged. We hope to rebuild with the cafe plans incorporated. They will be testing the walk-in for contamination. We would like Barney to cover walk-in repairs under his insurance. All wooden fixtures must be scrapped. Registers and produce fixtures and hot bars are quarantined and will be checked for contamination. All kitchen equipment will be sanitized. Shelving legs will be sanitized, along with all refrigeration. All seb workers were laid of as of March 7th. Meeting. tomorrow at the Barlow for worker to answer questions and help with filling out unemployment benefits. We had to tap into our line of credit to close out paychecks because of the PTO that was included. It needs to be repaid within a year. We paid our Summit loan this month. Olivers is offering support. Alicia asks about Barlow responsibility. Mel says this is a topic for a closed board meeting. No breaks on other loans. Not paying any PGE in SEB. No more labor to pay for SEB workers. Mel will file legal claim w PGE to establish why power went out because this could affect our insurance claim, we could be covered for spoilage. If the power went out due to the flood we are not covered. Kosta Brown needs to be inspected before the power can be turned back on. Wellness brought as much stock as possible to SR. Any food stock with paper boxes or bags is considered contaminated. Possible bankruptcy to stay in business with a modified payment plan to our creditors. UNFI is reaching out to vendors for free fills. 

 

Tess suggests getting print media to feature our story. Also, write letters, direct folks to gofundme. Sell gift cards 495 for 500 card. 

 

Next meeting: Tuesday March 12, 3pm

Location: SR

Meeting adjourned: 3:45pm

Secretary sign off: 3/5/19

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 2/23/19

Location: Sebastopol Community Market

Time: 10am - 4pm

Called to Order: 10:06am

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: none

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present: none

 

Approval of previous minutes:  Approved by consensus

 

Action Points from Previous Minutes:

 

• Create organization wide log for general communication on topics that affect us all -  Mel

  • Current: 2019 Santa Rosa Community Market Log

  • Under development - 2019 CM Store Log 2019

    • shared doc with links to all logs

• Myranda will submit proposal for effective product policy meetings.

  • A Product Policy committee charter was drafted  Product Policy Committee Charter

  • A committee charter template was drafted: 

    • All committees will have a charter

    • Titles of all committees will be linked to committee charters on BOD minutes(and template)

• Myranda will write guidelines for how to handle products from controversial companies - document was drafted: Controversial Products Policy

• Alicia will draft a charter for Customer Service Committee

  • Board determined that this function will be covered by the customer service trainer. Training will be expanded to include annual customer service refresher trainings 

 

New Action Points

• Myranda will update product policy and add to board site 

• Lisa will review this year’s minutes and add pertinent info to the GM Review Notes document by March meeting

• Minky and Alicia will reach out to workers re:  customer service/increasing sales

 

February Agenda Items:

 

• Board member Code of Conduct

  • Leadership/service role

• How to make contact with workers?

  • Quarterly short discussions with at least five workers conducted by a pair of workers - 

    • First quarter - Minky and Alicia - Customer service/increasing sales

    • One topic per quarter

      • Guerilla marketing 

      • SWOT - Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

  • Invitations to board meetings - hand deliver to workers 

• Senior Discount see GM Report

  • Extend hours?

  • Card?

  • Change Day?

 

• Check Board Calendar:

  • January

  • Review Ends - Approved as is

  • Review Mission and Values statement - Approved as is

  • By - Law Inspection - 

    • Article 2: updated - Greg moves to amend article 2, Jordan seconds, approved by consensus

    • Review complete

 

• • New Member/New Hire Check in - VP - Jordan   

    • Juli - signed card 

    • Next month: Geo, Gina

 

• • February

  • Schedule Membership Meetings (2) - schedule for May at March meeting

    • Must be posted 30 days prior to meeting date(s)

    • SR - Franklin 

    • SEB - Ragle

    • picnic

    • Team building

    • 2 meetings

  • Coming up:

    • Board elections

    • GM Evaluation

Board Decisions:

• Jordan proposes that cbd products may be reintroduced into inventory, Lisa seconds, approved by consensus

• Theft policy approved for handbook by consensus via email 

• Jordan moves to expand Senior Discount hours to all day, Greg seconds, approved by consensus

• Myranda moves to change the Senior Discount day to Wednesdays, Alicia seconds, approved by consensus

  • Implement changes March First

  • Get marketing in place - Lisa, Minky

• Workers would like to see a discount extended to alcohol. The board is willing to make an assessment in June. 

GM Report:

Status Report on consultants? Going well. Mark the produce guy will come back in May. Kyla and Jen went to DeliOPs this week. Said it was amazing and we will see. Labor down. Sales down still. 

We are at $99,000 past due from $135,000. Making progress. Going to take a while. Labor was under goal this last period. Asking managers to meet and figure out how to share staff. Had our best day in Seb this year yesterday. $26,970! SR still lagging. Going to try some sandwich boards on Elliot and Mendocino Ave. At least on senior discount day and 5% Saturday. Before we get too far ingrained, Sounds like it would make more people happy to have senior discount all day and I would like to change it to Wednesday to ensure we have stocked our main orders. Is this ok?

Jess asked if we could offer employees 10% discount on beer and wine. Wouldn’t cost much but would make people happy. Board decision. 

With Mo leaving, we are revamping our customer service training. Alicia was going to bring us a Customer Service Committee Charter. Let’s look. 

We received a $82,000 IRS bill for improperly filling out the ACA paperwork in 2016. We are working to get that resolved. We shouldn’t have to pay it because we provided insurance. 

I have reached out to our SR landlord letting him know we can’t afford the rent. Asked if he could do anything about that? Told him we would not be extending our lease when it comes up unless we are in better financial situation. He asked about us expanding to Gaia’s and I told him about how much it cost. He thought that was crazy. He is going to send his architect to us to take a look. 

CONFIDENTIAL: Gaia’s is trying to sell their business. What do we want to do? Discuss. 

 

Committees: 

Product Policy Committee: 

Election Committee: 

GM Evaluation Committee:  

Worker Party Committee: 

Make Charter, go over Mel’s ideas. Worker Party Document

Next meeting agenda items:

• Disciplinary Points

  • How do they work?

Parking Lot Items:

• Member survey to determine whether members prefer a 20% discount over adding alcohol to the current (15%) member discount

• Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

• Organic standards - certified vs local and sustainable but uncertified

• Servant leadership

• Triple Bottom Line

 

Next meeting:

Thursday, March 14th, 3pm

Location: Santa Rosa

 

Meeting adjourned:

Secretary sign off:

Approved on:Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: Wednesday January 16, 2019

Location: Santa Rosa

Time: 3:00pm

Called to Order: 3:06pm

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent:  None

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present: Anna Maria Gonzalez, Dustin Smith, Miho Pizzorno

 

Approval of previous minutes: Moved to approve by Greg, seconded by Myranda. Approved by consensus

 

Board Decisions:

• Myranda Proposes to authorize Mel to freeze PP program until further notice if necessary - No PPs will be issued or redeemed: Greg seconded, approved by consensus

• Myranda Proposes to authorize Mel to  suspend daily discount until further notice if necessary - bi-monthly coupons will still be in effect: Greg seconded, approved by consensus

• A meeting will be held by the board on Friday Feb 8th at 2pm in SR to roll out cost saving measures and go over talking points with the core management team

• Change to product policy:

  • Proposed  by Myranda, seconded by Jordan, approved by consensus:

    • Sonoma County -  Local 

    • Local products within 100 miles

• Green tags can be used to highlight Sonoma County products - 

Also people who attend meeting feel like the same topics get discussed over and over again. Should we have a mandatory few attend? Wellness Manager, Merchandising Manager,  Food Service Manager and Board Chair? Mel

Attendance of Product Policy meetings will be added to department manager JDs

 

Action points from last meeting: 

Lisa submit theft policy for handbook (Submitted, see below)

Myranda hold product policy meeting Held on 12/17/18

Need charter for Customer Service Committee - Alicia will submit next meeting

Mel will ask Tara to begin inviting customers to our Green events and other events.  Mel sent email on 12/14/18. She said she would. 

 

GM Report:

Financial: Senior discount update. Overdue invoices. Received a customer comment card in SEb that says thanks for the 10% discount but you should use that to give your employees raises. They need it. LOL figures right? We’ve only really had 2 days before this meeting so I don’t have solid figures to support the discount. 

As of 1/5/19 we are past due on $105,000. (As of 1/15/19, we are $135,000 past due) It’s not getting better and I still haven’t tracked down the problem except for labor (see below). I’ve asked managers cut back on hours and i hope that helps. Next step is to lay off non-essential workers until we can get back on our feet. Maybe non-essential isn’t the best descriptive. I mean folk that don’t work the floor, Marketing, Admin, Office, FE Managers. Seems harsh but i don’t know what else to do. I need board support for this.

Here is the breakdown of expenses for 2018 that I think are the problem.

Cash expense increases for 2018 vs 2017

Bank charges sebastopol $26,000 – When sales increase this increases. I’ve set a meeting with some other companies to see if we can get a better deal.

Insurance $19,000 but only $5000 actual cash expense. We had to write off prepaid from 2017 in 2018

Janitorial Seb $9071 – called auto chlor and they found issues for about $600/mos. They are coming out to inspect system and do training. So that’s $7200/year

Maintenance/Repair seb  $5000 – Had to increase grease trap cleaning because of sewage backup.

PPs $6000 (worker benefit)

Wages $307,631 (worker benefit) 

Staff discounts $20,000 (worker benefit)

Medical insurance $29,300 (worker benefit)

Store Rent SEB $50,000 (goes up every year by the CPI in 3rd quarter. Usually 3-5%. Plus we pay 4% of sales if we do really well)

Other issues in 2018 – Had to close SEB store one day because of sewage 

backup. $20,000. 

 

Organizational: Meat progress; Received one negative web comment on 1/5/19. Received another last week. Most customers just want to talk about it so far. No nasty yelling or what not. I saw a customer put in a suggestion card but i haven’t received the card and it’s not in there now. hmm

Informational: Jerome gave notice and his last day is Feb 1. I’ve posted for the position and have four applicants so far. I interviewed them on Wednesday. I plan to insist this position work on the FE in the mornings to save on labor. 

I’m also adding a “secondary department” to the floor staff schedule in the SR store. I’m expecting that when they have down time or are finished with their designated duties they can work in the secondary dept for a bit. 

FYI the worker party was stressful for me. It seemed forgotten until the last minute. I created a new board document for the worker party to ensure stuff gets done on time and things don’t get forgotten. Thanks for getting on it once we realized the party was next week. =)  

Worker Party Document

I am going on vacation from 1/21-2/6. I will be back on 2/7. Anna will do my time cards. Jen will still work with Allen on deli stuff. Caleb will take care of any equipment or facility emergency. I will check my email as much as possible while i’m gone. 

Board Business and Agenda:

• Board member Code of Conduct

• Review BOD calendar

• Annual Worker Party Review- Worker Party Committee - Minky, Myranda, Alicia - see Annual Worker Party document

• Theft policy approval for handbook - Lisa/Courtney

Theft Policy

Community Market has a zero tolerance policy on theft from individual workers or from our company. 

Community Market values all workers and their property, and expects that workers in turn value their own company and its assets. Therefore, we will tolerate no worker theft, or stealing of any kind, including fraudulent time card reporting. This also includes theft of money, information, products, inventory, tools or any item, information or idea that belongs to the company or to a worker, customer or business partner of the company. As such, we expect all incidents of worker theft to be reported immediately to your supervisor or HR representative, along with any data or information you have observed or obtained. We further retain the right to use video cameras and audio recording methods as well as software to identify and detect employee theft. Below are examples of types of theft to illustrate prohibited behaviors:

• Workers will treat all company assets with respect and will not vandalize or willfully damage company tools, inventory or property. 

• Workers may not take money, customer credit card numbers or company checks without prior authorization and documentation. 

•  Workers may not take inventory or products without payment,  including samples, broken /returned items or any company equipment or supplies. 

• Workers may not give away products or services without prior approval. This includes not giving free items or discounts to friends and family at the register or taking home samples or products without prior approval. Workers caught breaking any state or federal law, including theft of private or company property or falsifying timekeeping records will be terminated without warning. In addition, a police report may be filed, as well as a potential lawsuit against the worker with a request for restitution of funds or products, inventory or assets. To prevent workers from false accusations, we will investigate all claims of worker theft, thoroughly and disciplinary action will be taken against any worker making a false accusation.

 

• Review previous Vision Circle results with current board members:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lWO_eN2Zb5b16U58nJreQlNghStr1WQjRm1EHazIVmw/edit#gid=0 - move to next board work day

• Product Policy Proposals from meetings - AP: Myranda will share meeting notes with board. 

From Calendar:

• Schedule Membership Meeting for April -February meeting 

• Review Ends - February workday

• Review Mission and Values statement - February workday 

• By-Laws Inspection

• Vision Circle Check-in

Action Points:

• Create organization wide log for general communication on topics that affect us all -  Mel

• Myranda will submit proposal for effective product policy meetings. 

• Myranda will write guidelines for how to handle products from controversial companies.

• Alicia will draft a charter for Customer Service Committee  

 

New Member Check-In:  

Rachel Maxwell, Sean Avella, Hunter Blondin - cards signed by board

Next meeting agenda items:

• GM report - update on deli and produce consultants

• Board Member vision circle/individual goals/commitments

• Team building and morale while implementing cost saving measures

• Triple Bottom Line - People, Profit, Environment - Evaluate that we are doing this as an organization: https://elearning.scranton.edu/resource/business-leadership/ideas-for-creating-an-index-to-measure-triple-bottom-line

https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/01/26/getting-real-about-measurement-how-size-triple-bottom-line

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/measure-triple-bottom-line-76052.html

I’m thinking our first steps would be to determine what are our Social goals (see values or mission?) and what our environmental goals are. Then we determine the measurement we want to use to determine success. 

• Evaluate department structure 

• Discuss wage structure for each position based on differences between store locations, specifically as measured by increased sales and workload. Create benchmarks to measure differences and what compensation bonus? Wages? 

• Adjust Senior Discount times from 8am - 2pm to 10am - 4pm 

Parking Lot Items:

• Member survey to determine whether members prefer a 20% discount over adding alcohol to the current (15%) member discount

• Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

• Organic standards - certified vs local and sustainable but uncertified

• Vision Circle planning - review vision circle results from previous VCs

• Servant leadership

 

Next meeting: 

Location: WORKDAY 2/23/19, 10am - 4pm, Sebastopol

Meeting adjourned: 5:15 PM

Secretary sign off: LW 1/22/19

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 12/13/18

Location: Sebastopol

Time: 3:00 PM

Called to order: 3:08pm

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: None

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present:  Lupe Aguilera, Miho Pizzorno, Jess Williams

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

Board Decisions:

 

Action Points -

From last meeting: 

• Post/minutes flyer

  • SEB - Minky

  •  SR - Jordan

• Update minutes on website

 

• Financial Training - Mel and Axel 11/15/18 10am completed

 

GM Report:

Senior Discount starts on January 1. We have posted a flyer and included in Monthly Flyer. 

Meat poster is created. We ordered some “Contains Meat” stickers. We will post those on items in the deli case that don’t have permanent spots. Then we will create shelf tags that say contain meat to put on grocery items and cooler/frozen shelf items. We will do this for about 3 months while people get used to us having meat. 

The Garden is ready to begin. It’s going to cost $25,000 to  build out, $4500 of it will be store credit. So the remaining will be about $20,000. I want to take this from our savings. It was the plan all along but i would like board approval. We currently have $66,825 in savings. (Mel has the board’s approval)

We are really cash poor. As Anna mentioned last meeting, we are still behind on payments. We are now 1 month behind ($100,000) I’m combing through the accounts and can’t find the big leak. I think it’s a lot of small leaks. One is we are high on labor. Ever since 2we increased wages in March, we haven’t hit our labor goal as a collective organization. Two is our inventory accounts are too high in some departments. I created a graph of inventory on hand vs, sales and you can see quite clearly which departments are holding a lot of cash hostage in their inventories. I plan to work with Derek, Sandy and Sabina on this starting now. We have more worker discounts. We had 3 payrolls in November ($87,000 per payroll). 

Inventory vs. Sales Graph Link

I wanted to check in about the new structure we implemented with the 6 month evaluation. I am very happy with the results and Derek is happy so we are going to make this a permanent thing. Is that fine with the board? The board agrees by consensus that this structural change can be adopted. 

HR Courtney is going to be on maternity leave soon. We will post the who is doing what information sheet for workers. Everything should be pretty easy. She will be here twice a month and do work from home weekly. 

May we have a 15 minute executive session at the end of this meeting to discuss my GM transition plan? 

Also, I’ve had at least 5 complaints from workers about being treated disrespectfully by board members. Can we have a discussion about what it means to be a board member. A reminder that you are the  top dogs and set the tone for the entire organization. If we want an awesome place to work, we need to make it that with individual effort. If there are workplace issues, please let me know and we can take care of it in a constructive way. 

Agenda Items:

• Board member Code of Conduct

• Annual Worker Party - Mel posted it for Saturday January 12 at the Garden. 

• Need committee or organizers to plan it out. Food? Pasta seems to go over well and is easy and cheap. Tara says: 

Hi Mel! Just a suggestion for whoever is planning the party in January...it will be our Zero Waste Month, so hopefully the party planners can keep this in mind and we can make our party as close to zero waste as possible. If the planners have any questions, I can certainly advise : ) Thanks!

• • Party Committee: Minky, Alicia, Myranda 

  • See shared google doc: 2018 Worker Party

• Review previous Vision Circle results with current board members:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lWO_eN2Zb5b16U58nJreQlNghStr1WQjRm1EHazIVmw/edit#gid=0

How can we incentivize participation. Jess suggests organizing events with the community and involving workers in participation. Mel suggests a monthly gardening event at the SR market. We should be inviting our community to participate in all of our volunteer events with flyers, social media, newsletter, website. Ask Tara to begin inviting our customers to our Green Team Events

• Product Policy language regarding meat in SR - subend 4 - DONE

• Talking points for meat in SR

  • Shared google doc will be turned into a flyer and posted 

  • Changes on website - Lisa is working on this, email any language you find that need to be changed

• Can we revisit what “Local” is? - 

  • This needs to be added to the product policy agenda

  • Add specific language to the product policy

  • It should be posted

  • Within Sonoma County - yes

  • Bordering Counties - yes

  • Within 100 miles?  

  • Locally made

 

• Theft policy in handbook - Lisa will bring proposal to next board meeting. 

Committees

Worker Party Committee - Minky, Myranda, Alicia

Customer Service Committee - Alicia

New Member Check-In:  Noah Plack, Liam Fanucchi

Next meeting agenda items:

Handbook change proposal regarding adding a theft policy - Lisa will submit proposal 

Parking Lot Items:

• Member survey to determine whether members prefer a 20% discount over adding alcohol to the current (15%) member discount

• Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

• Organic standards - certified vs local and sustainable but uncertified

• Vision Circle planning

• Servant leadership

• Triple Bottom Line - People, Profit, Environment - Evaluate that we are doing this as an organization.- next BOD workday 

https://elearning.scranton.edu/resource/business-leadership/ideas-for-creating-an-index-to-measure-triple-bottom-line

https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/01/26/getting-real-about-measurement-how-size-triple-bottom-line

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/measure-triple-bottom-line-76052.html

I’m thinking our first steps would be to determine what are our Social goals (see values or mission?) and what our environmental goals are. Then we determine the measurement we want to use to determine success. 

• Evaluate department structure - next BOD workday

• Discuss wage structure for each position based on differences between store locations, specifically as measured by increased sales and workload. Create benchmarks to measure differences and what compensation bonus? Wages? - next BOD workday

 

Next meeting:  January 16 - 3pm, Santa Rosa

Meeting adjourned: 5pm

Secretary sign off: LW 1/2/18

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 11/14/18

Location: Santa Rosa

Time: 3:00 PM

Called to Order: 3:06 PM

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent:

None

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present:  Anna Maria Gonzalez, Monique Pavin

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

Board Decisions:

11/14/18 Vote completed via email to reintroduce cbd products into stock at both locations. 

Approved by consensus

11/14/18 Vote to introduce meat to SR starting January 1st 2019. Motion made Greg Goben, seconded by Jordan. 

Approved by consensus 

11/14/18 Vote to introduce Senior Discount Program: 60+, Tuesday 8-2pm, 10% both locations, starting in January. Motion made by Lisa Waltenspiel, seconded by Greg Goben. 

Approved by consensus

 

Action Points -

• Post/minutes flyer

  • SEB - Minky

  •  SR - Jordan

 

• Financial Training - Mel and Axel 11/15/18 10am

 

GM Report:

Nov. GM Report

General Numbers. According to the Cooperative Grocer, delis generally make margins ranging from 60 percent to 75 percent. The site gives an example of an in-store grocery deli that makes a 65 percent profit margin on $8,500 in weekly sales, using a mix of high- and low-profit items.

 

I’m going to ask Allen Seidner (http://www.thoughtforfoodconsulting.com/thoughtforfood/deliops101.html) 

To help with hiring an experienced deli manager. He offered while at Provender so I’m going to take him up on it. 

 

I have hired a produce consultant to come in early December to go over some some things with Geoffrey and Kyle. He will be here the 10th and 12th. We will be working on margin and sales growth in SR and merchandising and handling growth in SEB. 

 

Any discussion of financials i sent everyone? 

 

I would love to have the agenda up before the day of. It makes it very difficult for me to get together information we may need. 

 

I would like to suggest that we hire a notetaker for the board. Secretary will be responsible for the actual minutes but this would allow the secretary to be a part of the discussion. 

 

Agenda Items:

Schedule Treasurer training for Axel with Mel - scheduled (see APs)

Senior Discount - discussion around ideal day/time/age to qualify as senior

Proposed: 

60+ Tuesdays 8-2pm 10% both locations, starting in January - 

First Saturdays - we give approximately $1500 at SEB, $500 SR in discounts

Senior Discount: What age? Is half of a day in SR store ok? 10% off? 

https://www.theseniorlist.com/senior-discounts/senior-discounts-grocery/

 

Evaluate deli labor/margin figures - Jordan 

Jan-Oct:

Food costs: 48% Margin 52% Labor: 40%

Jan-May 

Food Costs: 50% Margin 50% Labor: 41%

June - Oct

Food Costs: 46% Margin 54% Labor: 39%

A decision was made to table the launch of the next Vision Circle until we can meet again to develop a more cohesive/effective plan. Board will review notes from previous VC in December meeting. 

Next meeting flyers - who/when/how - see APs

Introducing Meat - Concerns were raised over not having adequate time to promote. Jordan proposed that we use our marketing tools - newsletter, SM, website. Alicia expressed the necessity of working up talking points for introducing meat. Myranda thinks reintroducing the senior discount program as a way of generating goodwill. Greg points out that this may help customers feel that we are listening to their needs. Discussion regarding grab and go (from SEB deli?) for SR store.  

New Member Check-In: 

Jamy Bowman, Tracy Kirk and Chris Noyd, Karen Kaeter - cards signed and distributed. 

Next meeting agenda items:

GM Report

Annual Worker Party

Review previous Vision Circle results with current board members

 

Parking Lot Items:

Member survey to determine whether members prefer a 20% discount over adding alcohol to the current (15%) member discount

Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

Organic standards - certified vs local and sustainable but uncertified

Vision Circle planning

Servant leadership

 

Next meeting: 12/13/18 - 3pm, Sebastopol

Meeting adjourned: 5pm

Secretary sign off: LMW 11/19/18

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 10/18/18

Location: SEB

Time: 3 pm

Called to Order: 3:05 pm

 

GM: Mel Minton - not present 

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: 

Angela “Minky” Timpe

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present: No guests

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

Disciplinary Points Accumulated:

1 pt - late delivery of Annual Performance Review of GM

 

Agenda Items

 

Decision to add meat to SR inventory: 

Note: a vote was taken during the previous (2017/2018) board term to introduce meat to the SR location. The decision to add meat in SR is noted in an executive session, held by the board in November 2017. The executive session was called in response to a confidential and time-sensitive proposal for CM to take over operations of Gaia’s Garden and the board felt that including meat in the restaurant menu would be an important aspect of creating a financially viable product mix, and the timing would be right to introduce meat throughout the SR location. Ultimately, Gaia’s owners chose to continue to operate independently.  

Board members involved in the vote were: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Myranda Goben, Angela ‘Minky’ Timpe, Jerome Wilson, George Gutierrez, and Linda Schram-Williams. 

There was also a survey distributed to all workers regarding adding meat and alcohol to SR, and the results supported adding meat by a majority of the responses. 

The opinions of the present board members regarding adding meat to our SR inventory are below:

Jordan - does not believe bringing in meat will impact sales in a significant way

Myranda - feels that there are many mixed feelings throughout the organization regarding bringing in meat. She would like to see unified support from the board for whatever decision we reach.

Alicia - feels that a focus on customer service is what is really missing in our markets. Not comfortable bringing in meat. Would like to see other approaches to bringing in more sales: special discounts, events on patio for Customer Appreciation, better customer service

Axel - feels that alcohol and meat go hand in hand if we are trying to achieve ‘one stop shopping’. He would not vote for meat unless alcohol is coming in too. 

Greg - thinks we could bring in meat and eventually alcohol. Since it doesn’t require an investment up front, meat could be introduced at any time

Lisa - would support bringing in sustainably raised, high quality meat products in an effort to provide full service to our customers and to bring in new customers, especially from SR neighborhood

Minky (via email)- I feel it is worth bringing in a small selection of high quality meat products and grab & go items. We can put a  time frame to investigate and give an opportunity to see if there is an increase in sales. Realistically we can expect backlash from some folks yet I feel after a year or two our store will morph into a one stop shopping store.

Board Decision

Jordan moves to continue discussion at the November board meeting. 

The board feels that bringing in meat on November 1st is too soon to prepare talking points for the workers and implement appropriate marketing to support the success this decision. The board would like to develop talking 

points and provide a unified front. Jordan raised the issue of marketing the decision to the public, possible in our newsletter. 

Approved by consensus. 

 

Revisit Discount programs

• Senior discount - Myranda has experienced many seniors asking about reinstatement of the senior discount. She feels that reinstating the discount, possibly at the SR location exclusively, would have a significant impact on increasing sales.

• Worker discount on alcohol

 

Next Vision Circle - Guerilla Marketing - first quarter of 2019

Product Policy regarding multinational corporations - 

• Product Policy Committee will address this at next PP meeting

• Provide info to customers via website and newsletter keep up to date charts on who owns which companies

Leadership training for workers - awaiting proposal from Mo

Board compensation - next workday 

Wage gap policy development - next workday

GM Report:

I made the decision to start carrying meat in SR on Nov. 1st. Unless of course the board decides to change direction. Here is my plan:

½ freezer door with organic chicken, organic ground beef, bacon, sausages, bone broth, 

 

 

 

Have some items in the deli case:

Lunch meats, bacon, smoked salmon.

Grocery aisles: chicken broths, bone broths, bouillons, tuna. 

Then we can grow slowly with the meat as customers make suggestions. 

 

New Member Check-In: 

Jordan will inform us at next meeting. Lisa will get updated welcome card pdf to Jordan

Committees: 

By-Laws Committee: 

Product Policy Committee: 

Next meeting agenda items: 

Schedule Treasurer training for Axel with Mel

Board role - policy vs operations

Senior Discount

Evaluate deli labor/margin figures - Jordan

Parking Lot Items:

Examine Gs in reference to board compensation

Organic produce standards vs uncertified but local and sustainable

Servant leadership

Next meeting: 

Wednesday, 11/14/18, 3-5pm

Location: SR 

Meeting adjourned: 5:15pm

Secretary sign off:

Approved on: 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 9/22/18

Location: SRCM

Time: 10 am - 4pm

Called to Order: 10:06 am

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: Angela “Minky” Timpe arrived around 1pm. Myranda Goben is unable to attend.

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present:

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

GM Report:

We no longer have an Outreach/Event person. Rainah left for Marin county and I’m not going to fill that position. Minky and Mo are picking up the leftover projects that were in the works and then I am going to evaluate the whole system. 

Jameson resigned from his produce manager position. I’ve posted for the position and will interview Oct 1st ish. Jameson will be here til end of Nov. 

All loans are currently funded. 

We terminated an employee who threatened to sue us. I haven’t seen anything since. We shouldn’t have any liability but it might cost money to defend. 

Talked to ABC about CBD and did some research on the whole conversation. I found that the real issue is that the FDA has not approved industrial hemp for ingestion (except seed) and so CBD comes from flower. So really we shouldn’t be selling CBD for ingestion anywhere. What would the board like to do? 

The board proposes CBD products continue to be sold at our SR location (without ordering any additional stock). We think the safe course for the Sebastopol location is to suspend selling CBD products (including topicals) in order to avoid risk to our alcohol license until we hear back from the ABC - approved by consensus

I have an activity for the board - capital budget exercise - thanks, Mel

Board Business:

• Discuss preliminary customer survey results - revisit when survey concludes in October 31st. So far:

• • • 55 from bulk mailing

    • 39 from in-store distribution - weigh differently, these are submitted by folk who are already customers. Customers may have submitted multiple surveys

If we added meat products:

• • • 36 would shop the same amount - 28 mailers/8 in-store

    • 32 would shop more - 24 mailers/8 in-store

    • 26 would shop less - 3 mailers/23 in-store

 

• Triple Bottom Line (TBL) - People, Profit, Planet- Evaluate that we are doing this as an organization?

.http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

https://www.rmagreen.com/rma-blog/what-is-the-triple-bottom-line

http://inspiredeconomist.com/2016/03/24/the-definition-of-a-triple-bottom-line-business/

• Educate our customers (newsletter feature?) and workers about this concept. 

• Add this concept/language organizational values

• Find ways to measure how we support these values - develop reporting model. 

• Include worker pay, benefits

• Include environmental issues

  • Waste stream - waste reduction and proper sorting

  • Sustainable practices

Mel will research examples and develop a reporting model - board will revisit at next workday

 

• Board compensation- move to next meeting agenda

• Buddy reporting/vision circles - how to best share info with workers

  • Jordan (VP) will send out board minutes to all workers via Mailchimp

  • Vision Circles will be held twice annually

  • See Board Vision Circle Checklist for future topics

  • Add participation to performance reviews

  • Next VC topic - project/equipment capital budgeting exercise 

GM for a Day - How would you invest available capital?

• • • Branded flyer - Lisa will develop

    • Mailchimp invitation

    • Sign up sheet - Lisa will develop and share

    • Greg (11/6 9am & 12/4 2pm); Minky (11/10 3:30 pm & 12/9 3:30) Axel (11/9 - 2pm& 12/4 11am) Alicia (SR -11/8 - 2pm &  SEB - 12/13 2pm) Jordan (11/7 - 3:30 & 12/3 - 3:30pm) Lisa (11/15 2pm & 12/13 3pm) Myranda (SR-11/13 9:30am & 12/7 9:30am)

 

• Examine Ls in view of moving away from policy governance. Re-write Ls in layman’s terms

New Member Check-In: Courtney will notify Jordan when there are new members. Jordan started a Google doc for RCWB Membership Status 2018. Raymond Gillespie has completed 1000 hours. Lisa will share card template and supplies to generate cards for signing at each meeting. 

Each new member will receive:

• Welcome card signed by the board - add list of specific benefits to welcome card

• Increased discount (from 10% to 15%)

• Eligible to run for board

• Eligible to vote

• Eligible to participate in member surveys

• Updated name tag?

• RCWB pin?

• Member card?

  • Benefits with card?

  • Discounts for local businesses?

Committees:

Product Policy Committee: Approve proposed changes to Product Policy per Myranda Goben’s recommendations as a result of discussions in product policy meetings. Specifically:

In the Body Care section- changing "non-veg" to "non-sustainable" - approved by consensus

In the Grocery section: Adding an additional statement "We are currently monitoring certifications for sustainable Palm." - Board response: should this be added to all departments that carry products containing palm oil? The board would like to see this language refined to clarify and explain the objective of this statement. 

The PPC is split on issue of supporting/carrying item from the large corporations. The two sides look something like this:

1. No - We don’t want to support companies like Nestle who are using profits from products we sell to destroy/steal our water supply. 

2. Yes - We want the organic movement to grow. This is what growth looks like. Large corporations with lots of money supporting organic agriculture. 

I think it’s going to have to be a board decision about how to proceed. Do we go company by company and choose? Do we put signs on products that are owned by large corporations? Do we not worry about it unless product quality decreases? - mel

Add to product policy - we are currently boycotting Nestle

Next meeting agenda items:

Customer survey results

Next Vision Circe - Guerilla Marketing

Product Policy regarding multinational corporations 

Leadership training for workers

Board compensation

Wage gap policy development - next workday

Parking Lot Items:

Next meeting: 

Thursday 10/22

Location: Sebastopol Community Market

Meeting adjourned: 4:08 pm

Secretary sign off: LMW 9/31

Approved on:

 

9/7/18 - All members of  RCWB Board of Directors (via email thread) -  reached a decision by consensus regarding concerns over the sale of CBD products at our Sebastopol location: It was brought to the attention of the board that there are legal questions surrounding whether it is lawful to sell CBD products in conjunction with selling alcoholic beverages. The board agreed by consensus that all CBD products should be pulled from the shelves at our Sebastopol location until the legal implications can be fully explored and confirmed. 

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: 8/16/18

Location: Sebastopol

Time: 3pm

Called to Order: 3:15pm

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: None

 

Quorum: yes

 

Guests Present: Miho Pizzorno

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

Board Training:

Review of Policies by which the Board Operates documents. Overview of the concept of  By-laws. 

  

Disciplinary Points:

1 pt ea: Lisa and Greg - GM Annual Performance Review delivered late (due 6/15/18, delivered 8/20)

 

GM Report

August GM Report

We were able to refinance the Highway Partners loan through Summit State Bank. Jess and I signed the papers on 8/9/18. This should save us about $5000 a month. I’m a little concerned that now Barney has no reason to not force us out of the Barlow if he ever wanted. I’m probably just being paranoid but it is a fact. 

We also extended our line of credit for a year. We haven’t used it yet but it’s there just in case. We also still have the $30k equipment loan for the Garden. 

 

We are attending the VegFest this month. We are planning to be at the Heirloom Festival. Also, the Fermentation Festival isn’t happening this year because the person that does it has moved away, so we are planning on doing a small one at the Seb Store. We are also coordinating the food for the Sonoma Strong Healing Faire. And we are also sponsoring 2 or 3 showings of Food for Change movie in October. 

 

Garden is coming along. Our architect wanted more money in the middle of the project. The Barlow signed off on the plans. We just need a bid from the construction person. We got a package bid from Seattle Coffee Gear for a start up package for a coffee shop. We still need health dept, to sign off on the plans. 

 

Lupe was hired as the Front End manager in Sebastopol. 

 

A woman named Jean is filing a claim with our insurance company saying she fell while on the premises. I have an incident report and people swear she didn’t fall. So we will see what happens. 

Also two women were burned by spoons on the hot bar. I sent one woman a $200 check and she is ok with that. The other said she was fine. I bought new spoons with silicone handles to remedy it. 

 

We are still 2 weeks behind on invoices. I think we should be ok once we get midway through Sept. Fingers crossed. 

 

I sent the survey postcard to Melo Mail today. It should be going out by end of August. Hope we are ready. They called with a couple changes of format. Will go back tomorrow. 

 

Will the board approve the following addition to the handbook:

Some positions and departments require safety shoes and the worker is responsible for acquiring these. 

 

Approved by consensus

 

New Member Check-In: No new members

Committees: 

Product Policy Committee: 

There is concern amongst some workers that we need to understand “who owns who” on our shelves. Is it really socially responsible to sell Nestle products? Then some workers feel we can’t do much. We need board guidance around this issue. 

At what point does CM take a stand against umbrella companies? Develop policy around how to keep aware of ownership and business practices of our products. Bring focus to customer education and customer choice. Develop food guide to address this topic (keep consistently updated). Develop grading/rating system. 

The next product policy meeting will focus on this topic.

Next meeting agenda items:

Workday - Saturday 9/22, 10-4pm SR

Discuss customer survey results

Triple Bottom Line 

Coop conversion documentary

Board compensation

Buddy reporting - how to best share info with workers

Examine Ls in view of moving away from policy governance. Re-write Ls in layman’s terms

 

Parking Lot Items:

• Triple Bottom Line - People, Profit, Planet- Evaluate that we are doing this as an organization.- next BOD workday (with new BOD members) 

http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

https://www.rmagreen.com/rma-blog/what-is-the-triple-bottom-line

http://inspiredeconomist.com/2016/03/24/the-definition-of-a-triple-bottom-line-business/

 

• Evaluate department structure 

• Discuss wage structure for each position based on differences between store locations, specifically as measured by increased sales and 

• workload. Create benchmarks to measure differences and what compensation bonus? Wages? - next Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

Meeting adjourned: 5:10 pm

Secretary sign off: LW 8/16/18

Approved on:

 

Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: Thursday 7/19/18

Location: Santa Rosa Community Market

Time: 2pm

Called to Order: 2:08 pm

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Greg Goben, Angela ‘Minky’ Timpe, Myranda Goben, Alicia Murguia, Axel Mafra, Jordan Newhart, Lisa Waltenspiel

 

Board Members Absent: None

 

Quorum:Yes

 

Guests Present: Dusty Reynolds, Tess Dancisak, Jess Williams, Sandy Jones, Mo Pavon

 

Approval of previous minutes: Approved by consensus

 

New RCWB Members: 

Yhanna, Ian (July) 

Emily Taylor, Brianna Holmes, Rainah  (June)

Since January: Jordan, Courtney, Arturo, Caleb, Danny, Alejandro, Mo, Anthony, Adriana, Smiles, Noelle, Gwen, Cece

Create cards for these members, sign at July meeting - DONE

GM Report:

Cafe/Garden expansion: 

Here is the first draft from architect. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QQwX-7Nc0OUEo7NWeidjwxkLfDEwzPed

We are ready to purchase equipment. Our equipment loan is expiring in August. So we are getting what we can right now. 

ETO: October ish. 

Highway Partners loan refinance. I was able to get Summit State Bank to give us a 10 year fixed loan for $900,000 at 6.5% interest. HP discounted the loan from $921k to $900k. Our monthly payment will be $10,300 instead of the $14,100 we are paying now. I haven’t got the final word. Our income statement is not looking all that great. 

 

YTD Financial report (jan-jun)

Sales increased 11% over last year. $5,622,300

Gross Margin 37.2%  (38% 2017)

Wages 20.1% (19.1% 2017)

Note: Worker Discount $18,500 (2017 $11,000)

Total Expenses 36.8% $2,066,500 (36.9%, $1,866,605)

Net Income -$4750 (+$8435 2017)

We are a good 3 weeks behind in paying bills due to cash flow. Having to close in SEB on July 7 was not a good thing at all. Then the next day the internet was down in SR and we couldn’t process cards. So we lost about $25k that weekend. I’m trying to tighten the ship up. I may want to use the line of credit from Summit? How do you feel about that? 

I have relieved Nick of the Store Manager position. If you need more information on why we can hold an executive session. I’ve decided to change the name of the Store Manager to Front End Manager to better reflect the actual job. Not much changed from the job description, just a couple clarifications. I will be interviewing for the opening next week. 

Here is the link to the proposed survey card. For $1500 we can mail it to all addresses within a mile of our SR store. Can i get final approval? Approved by consensus. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QQwX-7Nc0OUEo7NWeidjwxkLfDEwzPed

Also send out to email list via mailchimp - Lisa will send out

Board Business:

• Sebastopol side exit door and security issues - being resolved by cafe build out, requiring receipts and eliminating unauthorized alcoholic beverage consumption.  

• Election of officers - 

President: Greg Goben

Vice President: Jordan Newhart 

Secretary: Lisa Waltenspiel

Treasurer: Axel Mafra

Product Policy Chairperson: Myranda Goben

• Board Training - Thursday 8/16, 3pm Sebastopol

• Workday - Saturday 9/22, 10-4pm SR

Discuss customer survey results

Triple Bottom Line 

Coop conversion documentary

Board compensation

• 20% Employee Discounts - continuing to monitor 15% results for 6 months, reassess - keep in Parking Lot

• Senior Discount - one day a week, specific hours - keep in Parking Lot, revisit in September

• Alcohol Discount- alcohol has a narrow margin - Add to August Agenda please mel

 

• Vendor Request Form - Maja will add to website

Parking Lot Items:

• Triple Bottom Line - People, Profit, Planet- Evaluate that we are doing this as an organization.- next BOD workday (with new BOD members) 

http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

https://www.rmagreen.com/rma-blog/what-is-the-triple-bottom-line

http://inspiredeconomist.com/2016/03/24/the-definition-of-a-triple-bottom-line-business/

 

• Evaluate department structure - next BOD workday

• Discuss wage structure for each position based on differences between store locations, specifically as measured by increased sales and 

• workload. Create benchmarks to measure differences and what compensation bonus? Wages? - next Red Clover Workers Brigade, Inc.

 

DBA Community Market

Board Meeting

Date: Wednesday 6/20/18

Location: Sebastopol Community Market

Time: 3pm

Called to Order: 3:13 pm

 

GM: Mel Minton

 

Board Members Present: Lisa Waltenspiel, Angela “Minky” Timpe, Myranda Goben, Jerome Wilson

 

Newly Elected Members

Jordan Newhart, Axel Mafra, Alicia Murguia

 

Board Members Absent: Greg Goben

 

Quorum: Yes

 

Guests Present: Matt Jones

 

Welcome newly elected members: Discussion of sharing documents, Google BOD ‘site’. Provide Alicia with chromebook to monitor BOD docs. 

 

Approval of previous minutes: 

Approved by consensus

 

GM Report:

Cafe update - Jess has a presentation from Verve 

Architect will have plans ready this Friday. Barlow will review and approve. CM met with Barlow, timeline looking like November (hopefully by 1st of the year). 

Verve has a lot of other positive attributes (direct trade for instance), it will be necessary to market the attributes to our customers, be clear on talking points, Verve has comprehensive training program. Education and transparency are key aspects of the company philosophy. The board should consider reviewing the product policy specifically in regards to cafe products. Jess also suggests featuring other coffees as organic/fair trade options. Verve will also provide cold brew on tap. We should consider whether to also carry the products in other departments. 

Assistant GM posting - haven’t posted yet. ‘Summer slump’ prohibits adding the additional salary at this time.

Barney upped our interest rate on our loan (to make up for lost rent revenue from the % rent error, i’m sure) We are now having to pay $14,000 a month to him where we were paying $10,000. I will try and get Summit State Bank to refinance the loan. 

I discovered we were having mass employee theft in Sebastopol. Cashiers were extra taring weights for salad and hot bar for coworkers. This has been going on for over 6 months and from my estimates probably amount to over $15,000 (that’s a conservative estimate). All people involved are now on probation for life. They would have been fired but there were too many and we couldn’t have run the store. 

• Should we consider incorporating training regarding shrink into our passport training?

Kind of on the same type of note, we had an employee post a FB Live video feed about how disgruntled he was about the FM not responding to his intercom. Do we need a policy regarding this kind of stuff? What action should be taken? 

• develop social media policy (research existing policies with other organizations)

 

Board Business:

 

Customer Survey regarding Meat and Alcohol at SR location:

Consider sending out as a direct mail postcard with a coupon. Include survey on website

Product Survey Proposal

We are reassessing our product policy due to the lack of sales growth in our Santa Rosa location. We are hoping to get customer feedback regarding some of our current policies.  Thank you for taking a moment to fill out our survey.

                                            

1. How long have you been shopping at Santa Rosa location?                                         

         A) Less than a year                            

         B) 1-2 years                          

         C) 3-5 years                          

         D) more than 5 years                         

                                            

2. How often do you shop here?                                  

         A) Daily                    

         B) Weekly                             

         C) Monthly                           

         D) Occasionally                 

                                            

3. What percentage of your grocery shopping do you do at SRCM?                                  

         A) Less than 25%                    

         B) 25-50%                             

         C) 50-75%                             

         D) 75-100%                

 

4. Where else do you shop for groceries? 

                                            

5. If we brought meat products into Santa Rosa, would you:                                      

         A) Shop here more often                    

         B) Shop here the same                       

         C) Shop here less often                      

         D) Undecided                        

                                            

7. If we brought beer and wine into Santa Rosa, would you:                                      

         A) Shop here more often                    

         B) Shop here the same                       

         C) Shop here less often                      

         D) Undecided                        

                                            

8. Which of the following best describes your dietary preferences:                                

         A) Vegan                                          

         B) Vegetarian                       

         C) Omnivore                          

                                            

9. Do you have any comments, concerns or suggestions?            

 

HR wage tier proposal -Mel proposes moving the HR position to M2 tier. Approved by consensus. 

BOD Code of Conduct Review

Side door in Sebastopol - need for increased security. Possibly block door or convert to fire exit. 

Announcements and updates:

Created new Google Site for Board. Questions? 

New Member Check-In: I haven’t seen this acknowledged in the minutes since January. Are we doing it? Are there cards going out? What’s happening exactly? (mel) Emily Taylor, Brianna Holmes this period.

Since January (Jordan, Courtney, Arturo, Caleb, Danny, Alejandro, Mo, Anthony, Adriana, Smiles, Noelle, Gwen, Cece)

Create cards for these members, sign at July meeting

Committees: 

By-Laws Committee: 

Product Policy Committee:  

There is concern amongst some workers that we need to understand “who owns who” on our shelves. Is it really socially responsible to sell Nestle products? Then some workers feel we can’t do much. We need board guidance around this issue. 

At what point does CM take a stand against umbrella companies? Develop policy around how to keep aware of ownership and business practices of our products. Bring focus to customer education and customer choice. Develop food guide to address this topic (keep consistently updated). Develop grading/rating system. 

Next meeting agenda items:  

• Election of BOD officers

• Schedule workday

 

Parking Lot Items:

• Triple Bottom Line - People, Profit, Environment - Evaluate that we are doing this as an organization.- next BOD workday (with new BOD members)

• Evaluate department structure - next BOD workday

• Discuss wage structure for each position based on differences between store locations, specifically as measured by increased sales and workload. Create benchmarks to measure differences and what compensation bonus? Wages? - next BOD workday

• Schedule board training with new BOD

Next meeting: 7/19/18 - 3pm 

Location: Santa Rosa

Meeting adjourned: 5:03 

Secretary sign off: LMW 6/22/18

Approved by consensus 7/19/18