Rainbow Board Meeting Minutes

May 15, 2007

 

Attendees:  Luke Lundemo, Barbara Scobee, Amy Breckenridge, Nicole Jenkins, Ann Herlihy and John McNeal (and non-board members Steve Whitlow and Bruce Frazier)

 

April 2007 minutes were approved.

 

Manager’s Report

  • Steve Whitlow reviewed the monthly reports and indicated that this is the fourth consecutive month we have had average daily sales in $10,000 range.  In April, it was about $10,629 in sales per day. 
  • Seeing a 2% rate of growth in new memberships per month so we anticipate having 3,000 paid memberships by end of July 2007.
  • Café only took a $597 loss in April and we have seen a steady improvement each month.
  • Still looking into purchasing a new oven and cooler.
  • Made first quarterly investment into the employee retirement plan.  Steve wants to increase the percentage for retirement.  We will make investments quarterly.
  • Power surge occurred and damaged the mainframe.  Store was shut down so there will be a one day loss in sales.  Bruce Frazier spoke with the insurance company and is in-process of filing a claim. 
  • Investigator from the U.S. Department of Labor has been at Rainbow auditing our payroll practices.  Auditor stated we pay our employees more than the average grocery store for the area.  Issue found was with the volunteer program.  Volunteer hours were tracked based on minimum number of hours volunteer had to work to receive discount.  The law requires that we pay them at least the minimum wage based on the type of work they were doing, which was equivalent to paid employees.  So, the volunteer program has been disbanded.  The volunteers have to be paid for the hours worked in the last two year. The tally so far is around $1,800 plus taxes.  Another possible issue is with our I-9 forms.  The I-9 form is required when employees are hired to verify they are legally authorized to work in the United States.  The government can charge $100 fine per incorrect form.  Investigation is still on-going and may not be over for another two weeks.

 

Financial Report

  • Making profit each month and anticipate $90,000 net income for the year.  We talked before about reinvesting so we can reduce our tax payments.  Already investing in employee retirement, purchasing new oven and coolers, etc.  Need to plan for other reinvestment soon. 
  • This is the time of year that the General Manager should come up with a preliminary budget for next year.  The first meeting of the fiscal year should be a financial meeting.  Steve will work on the budget.

 

President’s Update

·        Luke Lundemo met with Steve on the General Manager evaluation for next year.  A copy of the signed/approved evaluation form was given to Board members.

·        Due to the recent payroll practice investigation and the disbanding of the volunteer program, Luke and Daniel Johnson have been researching what we can do legally.  Luke will summarize articles he read on the internet recently and get with Daniel.

·        Luke spoke with a contractor on the plaza improvements.

·        The internet provider we used changed.  We have been having problems with access over a week now and the company does not have the best customer service record.  So, we need to change internet providers.  Luke got bids from two companies.  We are leaning toward the one that costs less but it still provides faster service than what we have today.

·        Annual Meeting

o       Luke passed out the flier and ballot.  Pictures were added and it looks great.

o       A task list of preparation items was reviewed with tasks assigned.

o       Ann raised concerns about the lack of promotion.  A suggestion was for us to have someone in the plaza greeting folks and inviting them to the picnic, etc.  It was agreed to have some members and employees to be paid to do this on Saturday in the plaza.  It was also suggested to have a video/picture slideshow of last year’s meeting and other Rainbow related events on display all day long.  Luke to follow-up on getting the display setup.  Steve to review the employee schedules and get a knowledgeable and energetic employee/member to do the greeting, etc.

·        Due to the lack of board candidates and the last minute rush to get people to volunteer, the idea of a Nominating Committee was discussed again.  Also concerned that the Board may not accurately reflect all membership.  Many tried to get folks to volunteer this round without much success.  The Board decided to have the committee formed and comprised of Board members and Rainbow members.  The committee members should meet once a month to discuss future Board member prospects so we are better prepared for next year and have better representation on the Board.  For better representation, members need to step up and volunteer.

·        Luke handed out the ‘Board Development Topics’ list again.  He asked for each Board member to review and choose the top ten topics for discussion over the next year and prioritize them tonight.  Once the new board members are elected, Luke will ask them to do the same. 

·        We need to work on the Board Member Packet.  Ann volunteered to work with Luke on preparing these.  Suggestion was made for newly elected Board members to tour the store before the next Board meeting in June.

 

Other Items

Bill Rusk came into the Board meeting almost at the end to voice his concerns over the lack of diversity on the Board candidates and Board.  The Board had just discussed this prior to Bill’s attending the meeting.  He was asked to join the Nominating Committee and to assist the Board in finding more diverse candidates. 

 

Amy Breckenridge resigned her position on the Board.  The Board regretfully accepted her resignation.

 

No other business so meeting was adjourned.