Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Rainbow Natural Grocery

May 19, 2009

Charlotte Lundemo took minutes for the meeting which was called to order at 6:15pm.

Board members present were: Daniel Johnson, Charlotte Lundemo, Gen Barbour, Irene Jones and Leo Huddleston.

Board members absent were: Scotta Brady (attending a funeral) and Tom Lowe (traveling out of town)

Also present were: Luke Lundemo, CEO of Rainbow and Bruce Frazier, bookkeeper for Rainbow.

It was decided to first have Luke Lundemo's report, then Bruce Frazier's report and the Steve Whitlow's report, general manager of Rainbow. (Steve had a conflicting appointment and had a written report for the board).

The board verified the results of the election of officers and the passage of the membership resolution. Gen Barbour and Charlotte Lundemo received 3 year terms. Tom Lowe and Scotta Brady received year terms. Martha Pennebaker is 1st alternate; Bob Gordonis 2nd alternate. The resolution passed 88 votes for, 3 against.

Tully Morrison, our webmaster will take off old board members and add new board members to the board email groups.

Luke talked with David Sparer, Madison, WI coop lawyer, who has agreed to help us get incorporated as a consumer cooperative. He has emailed a contract we need to sign before he can get started.

Luke will be meeting tomorrow with Phil Eide of the Hope Community Credit Union to discuss the possibilities of a loan for Rainbow to be able to buy the building.

Last Sunday the water in the alley rose up to the loading door landing. The problem was made more dangerous by floating cardboard and bottles from the overflowing recycling area blocking the drains. The board discussed possible solutions to alleviate the recycling overflow. Luke will see what is possible in trying to direct more recycling to the center on West St. as well as encourage more people to use the curbside service.

Luke talked about the outreach program and the signs for the community garden. There has been a signup sheet to receive email for the Community Garden, Climate Protection, Rainbow, Green Services and the Conscious Living Project in the Rainbow plaza. There are over 800 people already signed up in the Rainbow Grocery egroup.

Dale Ridenour will be returning to give a presentation on solar panels.

Rainbow will be stocking Fair Trade organic coffee for Wynona, MS. There will be a tasting presentation on Friday, May 22 around 11am or 12pm. Also on Saturday at the Community Garden, they will be selling plants for $1.00.

Charlotte said she would check to see how early Rainbow can reserve the Cedars for 2010. Bruce will report on the cost of replacing the skylight. There was a discussion about setting a time for the Board Retreat and an agenda such as goals for the board. It was suggested by Irene that we could use MeetingWizard.com to organize dates to have the Board Retreat. Dates suggested for the Rainbow Board Retreat were June 20, 21, 27, 28.

Luke mentioned the importance to Rainbow and sustainability of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. It would be good to let our representatives and senators know we want this to pass.

Next was Bruce's report: We will be closed Memorial Day. There was a discussion about the advantages of possible employee bonuses versus raises. We bought new display cases in HABA to decrease shrinkage of products ($6,500 from Oct to Feb). Our debt to equity ration improved this month. The new software system is helping to keep up with inventory. Sales this April were better than last April. This was the first month this year that sales exceeded sales from a year ago. We have purchased advertising on a section of the left field wall at the MS Braves ballpark. This is an attempt to reach out beyond our normal clientele. It was suggested that we should also reach out to West Jackson. Rainbow could fund workshops to teach how to create community gardens in that area.

The board discussed additional financial reporting and how to share it with members. One idea being explored is a secure website where one would have to be a shareholder to get the password.

Daniel asked about the policy about discounts for those in uniform. Luke agreed to find out exactly what that policy is.

Leo brought up that Martha Pennebaker and the raw foods group need a place for meetings every other month. It was suggested that they need to talk to Brooke for scheduling and to Brad for the use of the High Noon kitchen.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:53pm.