Board News | Spring Quarterly 2017
March Board Meeting Recap
The board covered a lot of ground at its meeting on March 2, including a discussion of the causes of decreasing sales over the last several months and the appointment of board members to each of the board’s committees. The board also heard a presentation from former board member Dave Feral about the upcoming World Water Rising event and voted to formally support the efforts of local and global water protectors.
The board was scheduled to vote on the fiscal year 2018 budget at this meeting, along with the Eureka store remodel proposal. Due to recent turnover of management staff and other factors, neither the full budget nor the remodel proposal were prepared in time – so if you’re interested, you still have a chance to attend a future meeting where these decisions will be made!
Although these big decisions were delayed, the board did make some other big decisions at the meeting, including voting to adopt the Co-op’s first official Zero Waste Policy and Purchasing Policy.
New Policies Approved
The Zero Waste Policy was developed by the Policies and Procedures Committee (PPC) after the board received input from members, staff and Zero Waste Humboldt. This policy sets out our vision of being a zero-waste organization and makes clear that we are aiming “not only to reduce our own operational waste, but also the waste associated with both the production and the end use of the products we sell.” It sets a specific goal of reducing waste by 5% annually for the next 10 years and requires the General Manager to report annually on progress toward meeting that goal.
The Purchasing and Merchandising Policies were also developed by the PPC, although these have been in the works for a lot longer (almost a year!). The Co-op has had merchandising policies before, but has never had a comprehensive purchasing policy, so this is a big step for us. The Purchasing Policy lays out the general principles that will guide decisions about what products to stock on our shelves. It specifies that we strive to sell local products, products with positive social and environmental impacts, and products which meet the needs of our members, while striving not to sell products with negative impacts. The Merchandising Policy lays out guidelines for what products we actively promote, including that we should only be promoting products with positive impacts. The full text of both policies will soon be posted in both stores and online for all of our members and other shoppers to read. These board policies will direct operational policies, which will be developed in the future. No operational changes have been implemented at this time.
For More Information
As always, if you want more details about what happened at the board meeting, the full minutes of the meeting will be included in next month’s meeting packet. You can get a copy of the board packet at the Customer Service desk (or by email if you request it) about a week before that meeting. You can also find minutes from past meetings online.
April Meetings
Board of Directors Meetings
Apr 6 • 6-8pm Ten Pin Building,
793 K Street, Arcata
Member Action Committee Meeting
Apr 12 • 6-7pm Ten Pin Building
Nominating Committee Meeting
Apr 13 • 6pm Ten Pin Building
Policy and Procedures Committee Meeting
Apr 19 • 4pm Ten Pin Building
Earth Action Committee Meeting
Date and time TBA
May Meetings
Board of Directors Meetings
May 4 • 6-8pm Ten Pin Building
Member Action Committee Meeting
May 10 • 6-7pm Ten Pin Building
Nominating Committee Meeting
May 11 • 6pm Ten Pin Building
Policy and Procedures Committee Meeting
May 17 • 4pm Ten Pin Building
Earth Action Committee
Meeting Date and time TBA
June Meetings
Board of Directors Meetings
Jun 1 • 6-8pm Ten Pin Building
Member Action Committee Meeting
Jun 8 • 6-7pm Ten Pin Building
Nominating Committee Meeting
Jun 14 • 6pm Ten Pin Building
Policy and Procedures Committee Meeting
Jun 21 • 4pm Ten Pin Building
Earth Action Committee Meeting
Date and time TBA
