December 2013 Greene Hill Food Coop General Meeting

NOTE: January GM is rescheduled for Thursday, January 30, 7-9 PM, in the upstairs room at South Oxford Space Facilitator: Christine Travers Timekeeper: Giselle Sperber Notes: Michael Randazzo

REPORTS: Membership: Nick Collins • 1,304 members total • 500 active members • 270 on leave • 534 deactivated • 16 new members since Nov 1 • Ethan Frey – new membership co-chair • In house orientation once per month; 6 dates between January and June 2014 • Welcoming e-mail to new members; link to member handbook now in this e-mail • E-mail notifying de-activated members; 10 asked to be reinstated; “really positive response” • Thanksgiving week – store was will staffed.

Finance: Sean Mullane • Finance has set up a binder in the Store for any member-owner to look at. The binder will contain the latest financial information, such as: this report; weekly, monthly, annual and year-to-date sales (soon); and, eventually, the Co-op quarterly financial reports: income statements and balance sheets. GHFC could also place the Board Minutes in this binder (from the General Meetings and the Board Work Meetings). The general consensus is that the Minutes posted to the Web Site should not have Co-op financial data (as a safety precaution), but that the full Minutes with financial data will be available in the Store. The binder is labeled "Greene Hill Food Co-op: Meeting Minutes and Financial Reports."

MAIN AGENDA Anyone Can Shop Day: should we make this a quarterly event? (Renee Bergan) • Recently had two Anyone Can Shop days; very successful, great way to recruit new members • Non-members participants fill out a survey – good way to collect date • Propose this is a quarterly event; have one coming up on 12/17 – a date we’ll consistently do; food justice will present • Collaborate with other committees; make this a celebratory event – but not too much so that people take advantage of this. • Suggestion about extended hours; Renee: puts extra burden on Allison • Nick: could look at extended hours for summer; something to discuss if membership wants • Consult w/Allison about the dates/structure of this event Proposal: quarterly date for non-members to shop: approved by the GM

Food Justice Presentation: Renee Bergan • Online survey aimed at non-members for data about what they are looking for from Co-op and/or a food coop in general; also what non-members are looking for to convert them to members. • Surveys have been in circulation through tabling opportunities; to date 40+ surveys complete. • Incentive for filling out survey; one-day food shopping pass. • Working w/Education Committee on food tours + FUREE and NYCHA tenant organizations; Alix Fellman new co-chair, will also reach out to local community groups. • Product dispute forms; form to be filled out by a member concerned about a product Co-op is carrying; appropriate committee will vet these concerns and determine next best steps. • Giselle: forms is very useful; can take up a lot of GM time discussing products.

Project "UpShift" Ideation: Jonathan Landau, UpShift lead • Aim to increase member engagement in reliably working shifts. • JL, Park Slope Food Co-op Member, knows Nick; interesting way to earn PSFC hours • Challenge: identify reliable staff at Co-op; create solutions to reliably cover shifts • 50% of shifts that are open are signed up for; • People who do sign up – between 15 – 30% do not show up (depending on the month) • November – 60% were filled; only 3% of people did not show up for their shifts • Goal: people to show up for shifts they sign up for; use “design thinking” (designthinking.ideo.com/) • Can’t have an impact on inactive folks; Co-op schedule doesn’t work for them • When people fall behind, there are solutions that can be implemented • Working members: some find that there’s not enough structure during shifts; want more direction • Survey was sent out 1st week of Dec; want to do one-two brainstorming sessions in Dec • Will have documentation (prototyping) at January GM for member feedback • February will have some concrete results for discussion. • Nick: looking to adapt PSFC approach: make people feel valued; want to create this at GHFC • Jonathan: top-down approach; need to be sure to support Allison in her varied responsibilities • Merchandising: need to do a training session to help with communication; how can upshift approach affect general operational issues? • Nick: Merchandising can be more proactive in these regards.

New Refrigeration: Lawrence Eichorn • Expect significant positive impact of new produce display, 5 door refrigerator and freezer • Decisions are being made about next steps; timing looks like January. • Spent $1,300 to de-install all equipment • Christine: need $10K in membership loans for installation; substantial costs associated with this; don’t want to take this out of capital reserves. Loan is a 5 – 7 year duration. Motion: GHFC take on an additional $10K (max) of debt and associated monthly payments to install these new units? GM approves the proposal

Bylaw vote: increase the number of board meetings to 21 meetings including working sessions • At the annual meeting GHFC ratifies all decisions made over the course of the year. • Board needs to take on general operation coordination to keep things between meetings – all meetings are open to the public Motion: increase the number of board meetings to 21 meetings including working sessions: GM approves the proposal

Election results announcement: President – Nick Collins Vice President – Renee Bergan Treasurer – Sean Mullane Secretary – Michael Randazzo

CLOSING a. Next General Meeting dates are on Thursday January, 30 + February 18 - same time/place. b. Want to be a future facilitator, secretary, timekeeper or to propose items for next meeting’s agenda? Please email info@greenehillfood.coop