Rainbow Natural Grocery Board Meeting Minutes
April 20, 2010

Charlotte Lundemo took minutes for the meeting.

Board Members present: Leo Huddleston, Tom Lowe, Charlotte Lundemo, daniel Johnson, Scotta Brady and Gen Barbour. Also present were, Steve Whitlow, Bruce Frazier and Luke Lundemo.

The meeting started at 6:15pm

The board minutes from March 16, 2010 were approved.

Steve Whitlow’s report:
March was the best month since January of 2008. Every department was successful in meeting their goals.
We’re getting a new phone system for each department and High Noon. There will be a total of six additional phones in the building.
Terms with one of our biggest vendors, United Natural Foods, have been extended from seven days to fourteen days.

Bruce Fraser’s Financial Report:
Even with this year’s employee bonuses and profit sharing, payroll is right at budget.
A resolution was passed to distribute no more than $15,000 no later than May 7th to employees as part of the profit sharing plan.
Rainbow will continue profit sharing with the employees as long as sales hold up.
Cash flow is better than it has been in a long time.
Nearly all of our current liabilities are less than thirty days old.
Our 2009-2010 tax return is on hold due to an IRS refund amount that is being disputed and has not been settled.
Our last payment to the State of Mississippi from the chapter 11 settlement will be made in January, 2011.

Luke’s Report:
Luke has met with the Secretary of States office regarding our change in business structure. He has also been in contact with our lawyer in Wisconsin. The goal is still to complete this transaction by May 30. The Tougaloo Rainbow Community Garden will probably be certified organic at the next MS certification meeting. The first phase of building a bridge on the forest walk was completed. Earth Day activities planned for the garden for next Saturday. There are lots of potatoes and other vegetables growing. The orchard has never looked better. This Thursday is Dinner & A Movie. The e-group has gain around 140 new members this month with a total now at 1,419 members. FAB (Fondren Association of Businesses) is planning a summer music and art festival and participating in a Fondren cleanup campaign in May.  A project is underway to renetwork computers at Rainbow to centralize equipment so troubleshooting will be easier. The Fair Trade Handicrafts & Green Services store will begin TV advertising next month.

In new business there was a discussion about a sponsored outing for Rainbow staff. Several possibilities were talked about and questions were raised about liability.

There was a report that Wackenhut was offering a business security patrol in the Fondren Business District at a very reasonable price. Charlotte agreed to check on it.

The meeting adjourned at 7:30pm.