General Meeting Notes 12/21/16

General Meeting NotesWednesday, December 21st, 2016, 7.30 - 9.30 pm The Co-op: 18 Putnam Ave, Brooklyn

Facilitator: Elizabeth Note-taker:  Finn Note-takers - please see link to secretary responsibilities. Timekeeper:  Jeannie Directors Present: DK, Elizabeth, Christina, Cecile, Keith and Jeannie Directors Absent: Lauryl Others in attendance: Erika McGinty , Finn Upham, Steven Russo Any person attending may participate equally in discussions, but only Co-op members/owners may vote on any issues. Member/owners may receive work credit if they attend (allotted 1 time a year). Next General Meeting is March 22d 2017 at the store. Want to be a facilitator, secretary, timekeeper or to propose items for a future GM agenda? Please email board@greenehillfood.coop.

Welcome/Orientation 7:30-7:35 (5 min) DK Welcome and introductions. Brief explanation of the purpose of the General Meeting. Questions welcomed! This general meeting is a holiday celebration and celebration of the Co-op’s improvement (along with agenda items outlined below). Consent Agenda: 7:35-7:45 (10 mins) (----?----) A collective vote on decisions that have already been made or that don’t generally require/solicit discussion. Attendees can pull out any item they would like more discussion on, and this item will be moved to discussion at the end of the meeting. Information on all consent agenda item votes will be circulated in advance of the meeting.

Membership and Finance Reports 7:45 - 8:00 (15min) (Membership; Finance) Monthly membership report (here)

  • Current number of working members: 437
  • Number of new members and deactivated in November: 15 new members,  2 reactivated member,  41 trial members
  • Number of existing members waiting for investment returns:  no update available under 50 as per GM 10/26/16
  • We’ve seen roughly a 25% increase in membership since January.

Membership initiatives

  • New Member Onboarding process standards creation (props to Alexandra Peters & Sophie Masure). The way we onboard new members has been very inconsistent. This causes confusion and frustration, particularly with regards to when and how a new member works their first shift. We’ve identified the ideal new member onboarding communication flow, which includes orientation and follow-up/informational emails. We will start rolling this out incrementally in January.
  • Trial member follow-up (Outreach - props to Carolyn Romberg). We can do much better with our approach to trial member follow-up. Earlier this year we changed the way the trial member signup process works so the information is tracked directly in our CRM (where all of our regular member information is tracked). This allowed us to provide trial members with keyfobs to scan in for shopping, a measure that was meant to promote ownership in the Co-op (even though they aren’t owners yet). Many of our new member signups start as trial members, but there is still a very large pool of trial members who don’t sign up and we never hear from again. Outreach is taking on the task of following up with trial members to see how their experience is and encourage them to join as a full member. This initiative is in its first month.
  • Q: How are trial members contacted? By phone, by email?
  • Member labor enforcement starting in January. Historically, we haven’t been consistent enforcing the Co-op’s labor requirements. Labor is everyone’s responsibility as a requirement of their ownership in the Co-op. With the store now being open 7 days a week, there are even more shifts that need coverage.

We ran some numbers in October. At that time, we had 427 active members (-roughly 112 trial members) so that leaves about 315 active members.  Minus our committee/board folks (60) and floaters (75) and that will give us our consistent store work force of 180 but reality is 114 are working, so that means about 65 of our current active members are not working = about 20% of members not working These numbers are rough and they do not account for members we show as active in the system who perhaps aren’t actively shopping anymore. That said, it does still illustrate a labor shortage. Point: Trial members not clear about process of transfer to full membership at check-in Keith gave an example of 3 during one Saturday shift that he personally took care of. Upcoming initiatives:

  • Check-in system email notifications for low hours. When a member checks in and is shown as low on hours or a “no go”, and email will be sent to them and Membership notifying them of the low hours with instructions on what to do.
  • Double make-ups for no-show shifts. The policy is that no-showing a shift requires a double make-up, but this has been difficult to enforce. We are exploring ways to track & enforce this. In the meantime, if you are going to miss a shift, you must make an effort to find a replacement through the work shift trade group. If you are sick or need to miss a shift at the last minute, you must call the store to notify them. Making an effort to find a replacement/notify the store excuses you from the double make-up, but you will still need to make up the shift you are missing.
  • Membership Committee Chair replacement. Chad Donnick is leaving the Membership Committee Chair post at the end of April 2017. We’re actively recruiting for a chair or co-chairs to replace him. For more information about what this position entails, email membership@greenehillfood.coop.

Monthly finance report: LInk to Profit & Loss Summary: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0sBFqsPR1yTeTZhRTV4Vk1tbGs/view?usp=sharing Link not updated OCTOBER 2016 SALES (31 days)

TOTAL BASKETS 1,845
AVERAGE BASKET TOTAL SALES $36.00
TOTAL SALES $67,485
GROSS MARGIN* $21,341.92

  Average daily total sales = $2,070.84 NOVEMBER 2016  (30 days) (Nov. 11th open 7days)

TOTAL BASKETS 1,561
AVERAGE BASKET TOTAL SALES $35.21
GROSS SALES $56,341.82
GROSS MARGIN* $13,176.85

Average daily total sales $470.57 DECEMBER 2016  (20 days)

TOTAL BASKETS 1,046
AVERAGE BASKET TOTAL SALES $37.17
GROSS SALES $39,829.92
GROSS MARGIN* $10169.92

Average daily total sales $508.45 *Note: Gross Margin is Sales minus Cost of Goods Sold. Does not include spoilage. Figures are from Revel. JANUARY to DECEMBER 2016  (Year to date)

TOTAL BASKETS 15,451
AVERAGE BASKET TOTAL SALES $39.29
GROSS SALES $622,010.43
GROSS MARGIN* $154,744.88

Liaison Updates 8:00-8:20 (20mins) (Board:Committee Liaisons)

  • Finance = A new process for making deposits has been created by Lauryl. Will look to possibly add myself as a signer for our account. Next projects: Financing Lawyers, Financial analysis for relocation. Finance will start reaching out to each committee to submit budget for the year.
  • Merch =  The team is moving ever closer to category buying. We’ve divided up all the merchandise into categories, and aligned our vendors with them. They now have to assign categories and figure out the nitty gritty.
  • Marketing >> After a period of orientation, Ray is finally on board as marketing chair. He’s started interacting with members of the marketing team (at least those that make themselves reachable) and is asking the Co-op Board for their thoughts and ideas for marketing priorities for 2017. Ray has established 3 main priorities to tackle in the New Year:
    • 1) Updating the website to today’s standards in terms of look and feel, as well as improve its communication of the Co-op’s Mission and Values, with the aim of attracting more members, increasing the number of store visits and the size of every basket;
    • 2) Update the Newsletter and Social Media in the same way;
    • 3) Developing additional storefront signage to facilitate communication of the Co-op’s workings so that passers-by can a) understand what the Co-op is about, and b) be motivated to join and become members themselves.

OPEN HOUSE January 14: The artwork is done and signs/flyers will be dropped off this week.

  • IT= We need to “strengthen” the IT committee.
  • Gov = Still need an assistant? A: Mira is coordinating a meeting in January.
  • Membership/Investments= Renee Bergan will take charge of Investment after Christmas? A: Cecile may follow up.

Cecile sending email to Jenine Osbon who recently contacted us about reimbursement for her and her husband investment, she has made many requests: email was sent 12/22//16

CHRISTINA is following up with Renee concerning her engagement with investment committee and request update for next meeting,... see also on Bike rack Committee Asks and Gives 8:20-8:35 ( 15mins) (Committee Chairs)

  • Committees asks for help or support / others give
  • Marketing = Ray, open house: January 14th?, promotional effort?, vendors?, tasting?
  • Jill is coordinating open house
  • Merch= Always looking for more buyers
  • Finance = Requesting budget from each committee. Have yet to receive.
  • IT= Keith did you reach Misha? Cecile will work with Keith to take on liaison role
  • Gov= needs assistant
  • Membership/Investments= Renee Bergan will take charge of Investment after Christmas?
  • Note: Keith to check if Committees@greenhill account is redirecting email to the committee chairs

Store Coordinator Updates 8:35-8:40 (5 mins) (Store Coordinators)

  • New hires Amie & Raina are currently in training!: have shadowed on opening/closing procedures, member labor training., cash handling, Revel POS backend & also worked shifts independently
  • New cash handling procedures finalized & currently in place
  • Reminder note -- Store will be CLOSED Dec. 25th & Jan. 1st

LEASE COMMITTEE UPDATES AND QUESTIONS: 8:45 - 9:05 ( 20mins) (Board and Vincent)

  • Update on the current situation, lease, court date, pro-bono attorneys, strategie, outreach...DK/Vincent
  • Cecile will bring the Coop’s affidavit to Steve for it to be notarised.
  • Court date Jan 3rd, Kristina and Keith will attend.
  • CB2, Vincent/DK
  • Relocation, Matthew and Cecile

As per plan shared by Jeannie, our current location is 2496 SF including parti-walls, divided as follow: - storage and walk-in: 500 SF - store: 1096 SF - "office": 900 SF

  • Finance to make a recommendation as the rent range to be considered in lease negotiations. (Jeannie)
  • Motion: Keith and DK and Latisha (public member) to meet Renee Collymore (Landlord).
  • Pass with One Abstain

Bike Rack 9:05 - 9:15 (10mins) (Notetaker)

  • GM and Boards facilitators,...Emily is on leave,...we need to find someone
    • Meghan to be contact, past successes, Kristina can back up for Chairing. Finn can moderate in the future.
  •  Investments:
    • Finance would like to be alerted to requests to have the record, reach out to Renee
    • Christina: to reach out to Renee to request an update at the next meeting.

Tabled for next meeting

  • GHFC accounts Doc. Update access spreadsheet
  • Position of the Store coordinator(s) with respect to the board
  • Further discussion of workflow on Investments

Closing 9:15 - 9:25 (5 min) (Notetaker) Board review/approval:  Board reviews votes at the end of each GM Was  discussed and decided among Board Members: Board titles:

President: Keith Secretary: Christina Treasurer: Jeannie Committee liaisons: Finance & Merchandising: JEANNIE Marketing: DK IT: KEITH being transferred to CECILE Membership & Outreach (MOM): ? Investment: ? Store coordinators: CHRISTINA & KEITH Governance: CHRISTINA Design build: ELIZABETH POP (People Operations projector HR): ?

Operations:

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