Old Business:
Call to Arms sent by Ben L
Issue with user emails has been resolved
Get it on website homepage-on FB already

Volunteer Opportunities:
Need to provide calendar so volunteers have dates
Response to generic emails to confirm (Rachael)
18 volunteers have filled out form to date
Log-out button
*Need separate inventory of unpackaged product

Benefit Concert:
$438 total for City Foods ($100 total went to A.D.)
Lots of prizes/raffles

New Ideas:
Winter solstice benefit-hand out winter collections
Screen cast-video with php list, explain what to do (audio overlay)

Packing:
No way to print sheets
Automatic response is confusing
Put screen/curtain in front of dirt bike
Taxable v. Non-taxable-add tax into cost of item
Date of pick-up should change for Thursday order
*Distribution: Saturdays 11-1
*Packing: Friday 6-7 PM
Shelves need to be organized-shelving plan to label permanent locations on shelves

Inventory: Saturday after 1:00 PM
Feedback survey
Product numbers & reordering system
Notifications to members for repacking
Reorder point (every 25 lbs)- item-specific
Inventory instructions sheet for volunteers
Need 1 person to set inventory/reorder trigger
Quickbooks Pro-Inventory (generates reports)
Use City Foods laptop for email
Cody: Baseline for packed/unpacked/space

Beta Run:
Fix brown rice button
Feedback survey
Overlapping for out-of-stock items
Timing: 2 weeks-November 2nd- email for Beta
Email all City Foods members
Select 25-30 for Beta test (~email selected participants Nov. 10th)
Open store: November 12th
Pickup: November 19th (pack on Nov. 18th)
First email-include dates

Reorder Product-Cody
100 lbs. Pastry Flour
100 lbs. Buckwheat Flour

New Products:
Soy & Oats
Lentils (?)
Coffee- 20 lbs/mo, $4-6/lb
*After Beta Run unless it’s from Greenfield
BP-commerical kitchen (Rachael will contact)
Must be packed before November 9th

Beta Run Reminders:
Email on Tuesday before (Nov. 15th), 2 days
Order prepped email (Nov. 18th)

Stamps: 2.5×4, $34-Cara will order
Paypal deducts fee-charge tax/raise price
Google checking?
Visa merchant?

November 15th-Green Drinks
Ads in Lafayette Independent/article
Keep website to members only
NOTE-Pick up only

Next board meeting: November 30th @6:30

Date/Time:

September 29th, 2011, 6:30 PM-8:00 PM

Location:

        Spurlocks

Board Members:

        Present: Ben A, Ben L, Cody, Mary, Rachel

Farmers Market

1. Would like to do one each month (1 in September and October, Harvest Market, and Dickens of a Christmas)

Online Store

1. The call to arms is ready to send out, but details with the PhP mailing list needs to be finished first.  Rachel will send Ben L the information for the PhP list, so that he can work on this.
2. Testing of the online store has been completed.  There are still some difficulties with the “not enough stock to complete order” message.  
3. Ben A successfully ordered food from the online store.
4. An online store test is scheduled for the weekend of October 14th

1. Friday, Oct 14th: 2 people are needed to pack food (7:00 pm)
2. Saturday Oct 15th: 2 people are needed to distribute orders (10:00 am-1:00 pm)
3. Sunday Oct 16th: Review test and plan for store; 5:00 pm at Java Roaster

5. The inventory for the store needs to be reviewed and a mastor inventory needs to be created

Benefit Show:

1. At Nickerbockers on Saturday, October 15th
2. Bands will be playing from 9:45-2:00
3. There is a $5 cover some of which will go to pay the bands
4. There will be a raffle with drawings throughout the night

Product Issues

1. The rest of the product should be packed after the trial run for the store
2. We may be able to use the church next to the Dojo for packing
3. Ben A will order the stamps, ink and anything else which can be bought over the internet
4. Several other purchases of packing materials will be made at Sams’ Club using a check

Upcoming events

1. Next board meeting: 27th of October
2. Indiana Coop Summit: 28th of October (Ben A and Rachel may go)

As you may know, City Foods’ Board Members and other active volunteers have been working very hard for nearly three and a half years to create a member-owned, full-service grocery in downtown Lafayette. Much of this time has been spent setting up accounts, attending seminars and conferences, visiting other co-ops, fundraising, and educating the community, and more.

One year ago our Board of Directors worked with the generous help of Indiana Nonprofit Resource Network’s Jillian Miller to develop a Strategic Plan which outlines steps to be taken in order for City Foods to reach its’ goals. During the development of this plan one of the conclusions that were made was that in order to open our food co-op, we need to start small.

There has been great success in getting support and capital for City Foods through community outreach such as having a presence at the Lafayette Farmer’s Market and holding fundraising events and educational workshops. However, those efforts have simply not been enough in the way of growing the membership base and gaining capital funds for the store. 

Through research and surveying City Foods supporters it has become apparent that the divide between where City Foods is now, and reaching the goal of a full service grocery cooperative, needs to be bridged. The best way to do this is through an online store—a place where we can market our goods with the least amount of overhead, allowing us to build a member and customer base and bring in steady income before moving into a physical storefront. Customers will order products through the City Foods website and pick up orders on specified days at the distribution location. Anyone will be able to order, however, City Foods members will be entitled to special benefits during this transition period. Further, City Foods supporters who are on the fence about investing in a membership will gain a clearer understanding of City Food’s mission and have a chance to see the co-op in action!

After months of researching products, health codes, storage, and distribution possibilities, we are launching our online store this month! This is a very exciting time, and we hope that you share in our excitement!

It is in regard to this news that we are sending this message.

This is a Call to Arms

 We need your help.

Currently we do not even have enough volunteer power to reach our goals. City Foods is a community-owned and operated food co-op. In order for the co-op to operate, we need our community to step forward and help us.

Below is a list of tasks that must be staffed by additional volunteers in order for the online store to be viable:

1.       Tech Support—We need at least 3 volunteers working week to week. The tech support team would help add products to the online store and maintain our website. Sign up using our volunteer web form listed below. *Approx. time commitment: 1-2 hours each week*

2.       Packing Lists Coordinator(s)—This person will organize, print, and deliver the packing lists to the “packers” every ordering period. Sign up using our volunteer web form listed below.
 *Approx. time commitment: 1-2 hours every two weeks initially (with more than one PL Coordinator this would be reduced)*

3.       Repackaging—We will be receiving products in large amounts and will need help repackaging these products about every two weeks. The more volunteers, the merrier! Sign up using our volunteer web form listed below.
*Approx. time commitment: 1-3 hours for one packing session. No long term commitment, sign up for as many packing session as you wish to participate in*

4.       Order Prep—Initially, online store orders will be picked up every two weeks. The night before pickup we will need at least 2 volunteers to put our customer orders together. Sign up using our volunteer web form listed below.
        *Approx. time commitment: 1-2 hours per each order preparation day. No long term commitment, it is up to you how often you sign up and participate *

5.       Distribution—We will need at least 2 volunteers every order pick-up day to collect money and hand out orders when our customers pick them up. Sign up using our volunteer web form listed below.
        *Approx. time commitment: 3 hours per order pick-up day. No long term commitment, it is up to you how often you sign up and participate*

6.       Inventory—We will need 2 volunteers to do a manual inventory after/ at the end of each pick up day to ensure that our online inventory is correct. Sign up using our volunteer web form listed below.
        *Approx. time commitment: 1 hour per order pick-up day. No long term commitment, it is up to you how often you sign up and participate*

Now it’s time to get working! Fill out  this quick volunteer form to get involved! Please email us at contact@cityfoods.orgif you have any questions about the volunteer positions listed or if you have any trouble accessing the Volunteer Form listed above. We encourage you to sign up for as many positions and time as you are interested in and able to participate in.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GET THIS STORE UP AND RUNNING.

volunteer form

What is a Co-op?

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

What are principles of cooperatives?

City Foods subscribes to the following cooperative principles:

August Minutes

8/30/2011

Rachael, Cara, Cody, Mary, Ben L, Ben A, Brittany

Cooperation Celebration:    List of possibilities:

>Puccini’s?                                                          >Copper Dog- Cody will ask

>Spurlock’s- Rach will ask                             >Artist Own- Cody will ask

>Knickerbocker- Cody will ask                    >Friends of Bob- Ben will ask

>Java Roaster- Rach will ask                        >Virtuous Cycle?

>9 Irish Brothers?

Farmer’s Market:  went very well; 1 friend signed up, 2 other potential friends

• Made approx. $208; biggest seller BB PC mix; people very interested in buckwheat & gluten-free products; much excitement about City Foods(CF) & products; no complaints or neg. comments on price of items
• Found old e-mail list; need to create master excel sheet to consolidate all e-mail addresses; idea discussed using CF laptop @ FM to collect e-mail addresses
• Look into:   FM boot camp classes/seminars @ Purdue; Mosey Down Main St is 9/3/11 NOT 9/10/11 as discussed

Online Store Progress/Discussion:  getting closer to being ready

• Approx. 415 lbs. packed 8/23/11; need to secure packing location
• Rach worked on price list; bread flour & shipping went up; NOT included in prices:  kitchen, bag & freezer tape costs
  • Member benefit to stay @ 10% for now; possibly raise non-member prices by 10% in future
  • Motion to pass pricing w/ an addition of $0.10/lb for kitchen cost- PASSED
  • “Call to Arms” E-mail: send out after changes are made, then on Facebook
    • Brittany assigned to review volunteer forms & to contact when needed; Need specific prompt/template to send to all volunteers once they sign up; Ben L. to look into setting up an auto-respond program

Financial Issues:

• About $300 on hand; now have credit card for CF
  • After online store set up, look into new products (dried spices)
  • UU Church-could be used again @ discount rate; Ben A. will look into a possible dinner benefit (sell products, talk about co-op, gain members, etc.)
  • Shipping expensive; discussed possibly driving to IN & MI farms next time (save money, take pics of farms)
  • Labels- too expensive; Motion made to not stick w/ old labels- PASSED
    • Raj’s idea: No glue; won’t work w/ packing situation
    • Rubber stamp w/ “City Foods”- good idea; Cara will look into
    • Possibly print labels (Avery) w/ CF computer & printer; Mary will work on
    • Rach will send e-mail on Tues 9/6/11 to vote on labels

Other Issues:

• Raj’s list -packing jobs; need to create checklist for packing sessions- Cody will consolidate list by Wed 9/7/11
• Website needs to be done; Rach will have online store/starter website ready: Thurs 9/8/11
• Tues 9/13/11: Meeting @ 6:30 pm at Dojo (test online store; discuss next packing day after trial run)
• Thurs 9/22/11:  Next board meeting @ 6:30 at Spurlock’s

7/28/11

Mary, Cody, Rachael, Ben A, Cara, Phil

Cooperation Celebration: Puccini’s- Rach will ask in person Black Sparrow- Cara will ask

Selling Product at the Farmers Market (FM): We will sell small amounts of all products and have “Sold Out ” signs)

Cody drafted an email to send out to the mailing list.  The content is a call out, history, current status, reg volunteers needed.

Need before we send 1) Johns survey to spreadsheet software and 2) Set up volunteer flow

Online Store: Launch end of August beginning of September

Beans: order on hold due to figuring shipping out (possibly picking up beans)

Cornmeal: “

Rice: ordered 7/28 100# brown, 100# white $70 shipping

Flour: order on hold (figuring shipping)

Added “inventory” to the example Volunteer Task List

Assigned individuals –

BP kitchen, tote shopping, shelving – Cara

Volunteer Coordinator – Falon

IT person – (CSS is needed) – Cara

Public contact person – Rachael

Inventory – open/volunteer

Attending:  Ben Alkire, Rachael Yanni, Cody Hall, Mary Lehmkuhl, Falon French

(Falon to look into plastic ingredient bins through TuWa – refer to online store spreadsheet)

Ingredient bin:

Cody: we need the ingredient bin for the natural bread flour; any time we dump any ingredient into one of the buckets, it needs to be done in a kitchen.  It’s better to do it just once.

Rachael: 33 pounds of flour = 5 gallons.  The ingredient bin is $125 for the smaller one.  For the larger bin, it is a 37 gal for $175.  Are we going to put them in bags too? 

Mary: Has to be done in a kitchen (Cody: or in front of a customer) – scrambling with just one bin.

Minutes: approved

Cooperation Celebration has become the official name of the dine-and-donates. 

$273 – LBC

$260.50 – La Scala

Working with a person from Puccini’s for next Cooperation Celebration (date TBD); Black Sparrow for next month.

New space: has refrigerator, shelving, located downtown.

Mail: Ben needs a key for Post office, Mary and Julie and John and Rachael have keys to 529 location; IRS mail goes to Cara’s mom’s house

Farmers Market: unable to go last week. 

2 of the 5# bags of flour go to James at 529; 8 remaining to sell.  20 2.5# bags of pancake batter remain, along with 26 1# bags of black beans (some need labels).  Went to BP kitchen, nice owners, had everything necessary, $25 for half day, $40 for full day, offered to let us store stuff there if we need to. 

Strategic Plan: Tactics due this month, some have been pushed back to July

Rachael: Make a motion to push back tactics to focus on the online store. 

Mary: If we focus on the online store, we’ll only do the tactics that relate to online store.  Once we’ve done a lot of stuff, we can refer back to the strategic plan.

Cody:  I agree that we can do this through July, but there are things that are really important like our signature fundraiser.  And once the online store is operational, we’ll need other tactics like marketing.  The board needs to hand over the store to an Online Store Committee, made up of mostly non-board members, so the board can focus on board issues.

Mary: Maybe we should have an on-the-side meeting to look at the strategic plan, if we’re focusing on the online store then we should highlight things that are time-sensitive and push back everything else. 

Rachael:  Stephanie says that there hasn’t been anything online in months.  I want to keep a log of who’s a member, who’s a partial member/friend, etc. 

Intern (400 hrs) background in health.  Need an outline for internship ASAP. 

Phil: we need to send out a monthly email, so that members know what we’re up to and don’t forget about us. 

Mary:  Cara and I used to enter this information, so it exists somewhere with a hard copy of emails. 

Motion: delay tactics not related to online store.  Motion passed. 

Ben: Have been working on grants, making a presentation to Lafayette Enterprise.  City Foods is not alone; there is a regional problem in getting grants.  We really just need a $1.5 million loan, because we can pay it off.  Soros foundation might be a possibility. 

Chris Brown told Cody and Cara he would be more than happy to help with rent, nice guy who owns a lot of property, and there is a space next to Artist’s Own that might be available. 

Phil:  we need to ask for volunteers, more aggressively.  Cody will send something out in the next week.  Need more volunteers for farmers markets.

Cody: I would like to see us operating the online store until we can cover small rent on our own building. 

Online Store Specifics:

Initial Product Inventory (refer to spreadsheet).  Total inventory cost will be $1129.66, with estimated shipping.  Bags will cost $241 (not including shipping and printing); check on taxes we might have to pay on bags.  Shelving will cost $210.

Prices from Sunspot: Organic black turtle beans $1.95/lb in bulk section.  

We might want to look into paying for monthly access at the kitchen and keeping the bin there; might be easier than moving bin every time. 

Treasurer’s Report: We have about $3,000 available for operational costs (not membership equity).  Membership equity is being saved for online store.  Figure out how much to move to Operational Account, and minimum balance. 

Vote on Storage Containers: Option E – 1 37-gal ingredient bin, 20 5-gal buckets, 5 10-gal buckets.  Unanimously chosen as best option.   (refer to spreadsheet)

Online Store Procedures:

Semi-monthly (2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of each month) – refer to Online Store Procedure report. 

July 23 – first pick-up date for online store.  Need volunteer sheets before, minimum of 2 volunteers for each preparation day and pick-up days.  Need 3 people signed up, so if one person doesn’t show everything works out.  Need an order number and a way to print out order lists (John said he could do it).  Volunteers obtain order lists every Friday afternoon before pick-up day.

Need to do product inventory, and order more when we reach 25 lbs. 

Tentative Trial Runs  – Online store opens 1 week before first pick-up (July 23); only board members and active volunteers.  2^nd trial run will be 2 weeks later, include family/close friends/dedicated members (August 6).  Allow first 20 members to participate test run.  Online store goes live as of August 20. 

Beta package for second run.  Give a sample of every product for a set fee (ex. $50 gets a 1 # bag of everything).  Beta package at Farmers Market – display products, rack up sales.  Customers in beta run get a discount; members get a discount. 

Next Online Store Meeting:  July 6^th at 7:00 PM at the Dojo Garage. 

Ben:  Move to Adjourn.  Unanimous.

May 26, 2011  6:00 – 8:30pm

Venue: Spurlocks Downtown, ‘Purdue Room’

Board Members Present: Cara, Cody, Ben L., Ben A., Rachael, and Mary                   
Others Present:  Fallon (start member) and Phil (member)

Fallon hasn’t paid her membership but shall soon. She has agreed to be Secretary once fully paid and admitted as a City Foods Board Member.
Former Secretary, Ben Alkire, will be taking the office of Treasurer in place of John Fry.

Discussion for name change of our ‘Community Night’ to “Coop Night” and “Cooperation Celebration” Next one to be held either at Puccini’s or Black Sparrow – TBA

Mary is designing small folding table informational cards – will make

Packing flour – BP Kitchen – Cody will do it – packing the flour

Extra key to be cut for Ben A for Post Office box

Raj – Ben L – BEN A- meeting with Julie and go over books
            Cara: consider using Quickbooks

Double check Lafayette / Tippecanoe? Vendor’s Permit – has it expired? – No, is valid and current

FLOUR – a big discussion
Plastic containers, totes for packed flour, Mary is working on it – 45 gallon/50 gallon cans with wheels? big bags vs small bags – mobility vs storage – totes
- possibly order new flour ~June 5

Does Raj have dry beans?

Buckwheat, pastry bread flour, blueberry pancake mix  2x bread
one small tote holds 80lbs flour

6 x 30 gallon tote wire racks $90
Cody will develop a wash station for beans

Find out more about Halal meat – Ben L

Meeting for On-line store Thursday June 2 +

We should work with local cooperative businesses, credit union especially.

Development internships: Brittany Van Cleve – Education, work on event calendar

Went over Strategic Plan; reassigned tactics and put deadlines on some tactics. And discussed procedures for carrying out and presenting tasks/tactics.

The online store is a bridge to having a brick and mortar store. Goal is to have online store functioning in next few months. Couple years out, a real physical storefront. This is something that needs great focus.

April 2011

May 5th ,2011 6:00 PM – 7:45 PM

Location:

West Lafayette Public Library

Present at meeting:

Cara, Mary, Ben A., Ben L., Rachael, Cody, Phil and John

Board Officer Votes:
Officers: Cody and Rachael ran for President, all other seats where unopposed.               

President: Rachael

Vice President: Mary

Treasurer: John

Secretary: Ben

Terms:

3 years: Cody and Ben L.

2 years: John, Rachael, Ben

1 year: Cara, Mary

Other Business:
Regular Board Meeting Date:

Board meetings will be held on the 4th Thursday of the month. Meeting place not set. Possible new meeting location ideas were, TAF, The Union, or some other room at Purdue. Meeting rooms need to have wireless internet access.

Online Ordering:

Need to test system, get order handling procedure down.

Tactic Meeting Date:

Tactics Assignments: Meeting on 5/13, backup on 5/18, details on Google Calendar.

Flour:

Need to package what we have on hand now, and order more products.

Flour for 529:

We’ll get them flour

Farmers Market:

Meeting on 5/13 details on Google Calendar, backup date is 5/18

Community Night:
    Need to change name of event from “Community Night” to something else.

March 17th, 2011, 6:30 PM – 9 PM

Location:
    John’s House
Board Members:
    Present: Cara, Ben, Zach, Cody, Julie, Rachael and John
    Absent: Mary
    Guest: Nelu Lazar (Twestival Organizer)
Twestival Overview

Nelu gave a quick overview of what to expect at the Twestival and what is expected from City Foods.

Annual Meeting: No vote

Sending out a pole on-line to figure out best date for annual meeting:

April 23rd, 1-3 PM

Or April 30th, 1-3 PM

We will go with whatever date wins.

Need to set a pre ‘Annual Meeting’ meeting

Move out of Main Street Wine and Cheese: Vote

Vote: Yes

Freezers: Cara taking of the freezer at Ivan’s and leaving Ivan’s

Flour at MSW&C: Cara is moving it to 529

Parking lot idea: Folder/File organization in gDocs

Business Memebership Language: Vote

In order to represent our relationships with local businesses and nonprofits Cityfoods will create a two tiered business partnership.1. Community Co-Operators will be any business that wishes to publicly support Cityfoods. This can be by displaying a sticker, in kind donations, cross-promotion…ect2. Business Co-Operators will be businesses that wish to buy products through Cityfoods in order to cut their costs, and help foster Cityfoods in turn. They would pay $100(non-refundable) fee and receive discount off of case pricing, and be able to receive member discounts on special pricing. Business Co-Operators will not have voting rights or receive patronage refunds

Vote: Yes

Spending $100 Landis+Gyr donation on a People’s Brew Business Membership: Vote: Yes