| SUBMITTED AGENDA ITEMS:
Review Minutes from Last Meeting
Decided that we will only review the minutes if there is something that
is clearly missing or incorrect.
Notes from the October 8th FA Board Meeting
· The board approved our two new members, Mark and Jill.
· The board approved the growth idea and there was a lot of discussion.
Growth was approved and a third store possibility was approved, as long
as it falls within the parameters that have been set. We will have to
move quickly on the Growth Education Flyer.
· We need to address our concerns that the owner survey was not
necessarily the best way to gather information from the owners. The board
has requested information by December.
o We are concerned that the low response rate made this survey ineffective.
o Perhaps we could discuss things that have been done in the past with
surveys.
o We will postpone addressing the survey concerns until the next meeting
so that we can focus on the Growth Education Flyer. Possibly, we will
wait until January to give this to the board.
Growth Education Flyer for the FA Owners
· We are supposed to have a draft available for the Nov. board
meeting.
· Esther has prepared a draft of the flyer.
o We would like to keep it to a page so it is not overwhelming.
o It would also be nice to include some graphics as well as text.
o Should marketing do this or should the committee be in charge of preparing
the design of this document?
· We want all mailers from the co-op to have a consistent design
so that people identify mail with us and not as junk.
· There are several main items that we need to address in the mailer.
Albany, Philomath, campus and the centralized Corvallis location.
o We will have to add the campus store to the draft and explain why it
was not feasible.
· I prefer complete sentences. Also there were a few statements
that were repeated. I wasn't sure if this was done intentionally. There
was a statement about ethical responsibility being important, but it doesn't
say why.
· Perhaps we should not look at the draft in terms of paragraphs
but rather key points and phrases that we want to highlight.
o Details could be provided as footnotes. Additionally, we could provide
a detailed document in the store or on the website to satisfy anyone who
needs more information.
o I think that this is a good idea, but I'm concerned that we couldn't
get enough info into the flyer.
o With six panels we should be able to get all the info into a tri-fold
brochure.
o If we provide the verbiage to marketing they can prepare a draft that
we can then edit or approve.
· Avoid the word crossover, perhaps use mainstream.
· Is it better to give more information in the flyer or to simply
use bullets?
o It is a fine line. There are a certain amount of owners that will go
looking for more information, but a large amount may never read anything
beyond what we present them.
· I think it is important for our owners to see that the board
has unanimously approved the possibility of growth.
o It will be a red flag for many owners. Perhaps we can encourage them
to get involved by showing up to committee sessions.
· We need to make it clear that this is just for education. People
will assume that this is to prepare the owners for something that has
already been decided.
o What about a timeline or next action?
o Perhaps get the communication board involved.
o Provide an email address to send questions.
Editing the Growth Flyer Draft
· Front page:
o Bullet: title, Explanation of FA
o Bullet: title, Statement About
o Bullet: title, Board Approving
o Bullet: title, Growth / 3rd Store
· Second page:
o Bullet: title, For Further Information.
· Market studies
· Web site
· Board members at stores
o Bullet: title, Potential Locations
· List each location and provide a brief description of what we
found.
o Bullet: title, Why Grow?
· Competition.
· Overload at each store.
· Room to expand product selection.
· Third Page:
o Bullet: title, Benefits
· Larger quantity orders - reduced costs
· More local jobs.
· Alleviates crowding in existing stores.
· Community outreach.
o Bullet: title, Financials
· Product costs will not increase.
· Best scenario - move into existing location
· Sales from new store support debt incurred
Patronage Dividend Notice
· The mailer will detail exactly how each owner's patronage dividend
was spent, showing dollar amounts for each program. If we itemize the
outreach spending in terms of a dividend, then we can ask owners whether
this is how they want us to continue spending their money.
· We had tried allowing owners to choose if they would like to
donate their money to outreach, to cash it out, or to add it to their
equity. It seemed that owners were interested in getting their dividends
more than the other outreach options.
· It is stated that our mission as a co-op is to provide for the
community. By leaving it up to owners, the majority will opt to take their
money rather than donate it.
· It will be great if we show owners exactly what is at stake if
they choose to have their dividend returned.
· What we need to do is increase awareness of the programs so that
it will make the decision to choose outreach programs over a personal
return that much easier.
· The problem is if we present owners with a large amount, they
wont give it back. If we take a little at a time, they aren't as opposed
to returning it to the co-op.
o Perhaps an answer to this would be that a large dividend would be a
store credit.
· I like the idea of giving more information about why there is
no dividend and showing them where the money is going.
· It would be nice to see the finished product come to ORC before
it gets presented to the board. Even if it isn't a finished product, a
template or draft would be nice.
Recycling Concern
· There has been some concern that Corvallis Disposal does not
recycle items that they had in the past.
o This issue is not really appropriate for our committee to take on.
Meeting adjourned: 1:30pm
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