The HWFC Board of Directors met on Wednesday, June 25.

The Finance committee is considering having either an independent audit or an analysis of internal procedures. The later would be quicker and less costly. The committee is getting estimates and looking at various options before making a recommendation to the Board.

The Finance committee recommended that the Board approve an extension of the mortgage on the former Coop building on Quail Street, rather than making the balloon payment originally specified in the mortgage. The Board voted to take this recommendation. Payments will continue for about 22 months.

Budgeting for membership meetings was discussed. There is no line for these expenses in the Coop budget, but a separate line for this should be set up.

Preparations are being made for the annual member dinner in November.

The strategic planning retreat has been rescheduled for September 19–20 so that the planning focus groups can meet and the marketing survey can be completed.

The Personnel committee recommended that staff be able to invest in IRAs after six months of service, rather than after one year, which has been the policy. The Board agreed to shorten this time period.

Coop Association Meeting

CGANE, the association of coops that Honest Weight belongs to, has called a meeting in November to set new directions and establish closer working arrangements between member coops. Honest Weight needs to decide whether to participate in this meeting and, if we do participate, to discuss the implications of these plans beforehand. A strengthened coop movement would be beneficial, but would going along with CGANE’s plans necessitate standardization that we don’t want? The Board has information on this and planned to discuss it in August.

Collective Management Report

The team is planning monthly events for the store. September’s will mark Organic Harvest Month.

The staff is working on a customer service training program.

The business plan for improvements will include sprucing up the cheese/grocery area. Funds available for computer expenses will go toward improving front-end and core operations.

New York State requires that the Coop have a Workplace Safety and Loss Prevention Assessment. The staff was to perform their own initial inspection; a professional inspection was scheduled to follow around the end of July.

Minutes of all meetings are available at the Coop. Minutes of the most recent meeting are posted on the bulletin board.