Minutes of the 7-5-2010 Board Meeting

Medford Food Co-op
Meeting of the Board of Directors
225 W. Main St., Medford
July 5, 2010

Call to Order: 6:30 p.m.

Present: Augustine Colebrook, Donna Kessler, Tommy Larson, John Miele, and Jim Sims
Absent: none

June 21, 2010 meeting minutes were read and approved.

Old Business:
Jim Sims and John Miele met with Umpqua Bank and discussed the potential loan/line of credit further. The bank is very interested, and has elevated the request to the appropriate level for approval. They also requested a five year business plan, which John has agreed to work on. Umpqua wants to be the premier local bank, and would like to move forward with a loan at 6%, amortized over 10 years. They are moving forward with tentative terms.

Fundraising update. We have reached approximately $309,000 total. We are literally in the last couple weeks of opportunity to lure potential investors. Additional work on this effort is critical at this time, in order to meet our goal by the end of July.

The scope of work for the Riverside address was briefly reviewed. Tommy agreed to revise it further to include elements needed for the MFC start-up. It was agreed that this scope of work should be clear and concise prior to lease signing.

The business plan needs to be updated with new financials, based on five years for Umpqua Bank as well as potential investors. Donna will update spreadsheets with new numbers and email them out to the board. Tommy will incorporate this into the business plan and email it out to the rest of the board as soon as possible.

The MFC board remains very interested in creating and maintaining relationships with local farms. At this point, it was decided to only accept official relationships with sponsors that meet the minimum donation requirements. In the future, the board will consider partnerships with farms on a basis other than solely on their ability to afford a sponsorship.

Augustine contacted local printers to inquire about the potential for co-op sponsorship. Positive responses were received from two printer shops, but no commitments were made as of yet. Augustine agreed to continue to pursue this sponsorship.

Jim reported that he was scheduled to have lunch with Marilyn O’Connor, the local attorney who would like to do a first year marketing plan for the MFC. They will discuss the details of her project.

Tommy reported that banners/signage have been erected at the Riverside location, announcing the coming of the co-op. The banner with sponsor information is not yet complete, so is not on display, but will be completed and hung as soon as possible.

New Business:
Potential local area individuals and businesses were reviewed for sponsor potential. Augustine agreed to track down contact information for identified parties in the coming week, and all on the board agreed to seek any potential donors in the days to come.

There was discussion of the importance of hiring a General Manager as soon as possible. It was agreed that we needed to move forward on this effort, and start a broad search, and begin accepting applications and resumes for this position.

Adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

Thomas Larson
Secretary