The holidays bring with them the urge to stay inside by the fire and more opportunities to celebrate with good friends and good food.  As we look to the New Year, the Board of Directors continues to work toward making the Co-op experience the best it can be.

This year we are working to educate ourselves about our local economy.  We will be hearing from a UNCW graduate student about food deserts in our area, discussing the economic principles as described in The Small-Mart Revolution by Michael Shuman (co-founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, BALLE), and exploring slow money principles.  We will also be reading about other co-ops’ experiences with expansion, to help us make more informed decisions in the future.  The Board welcomes anyone who wants to participate.  Please come to our meetings held the fourth Monday of each month at 6pm, upstairs in the Tidal Creek Community Center.

The Board would like to thank all those who participated in last month’s Board of Directors election. The Co-op thrives on the commitment of its owners, and your involvement and input is vital to our success. We are pleased to announce that Sherye Bergmann is our new Board member.  Sherye has been a business owner for the past 25 years, and as such, she has learned creativity, motivation, discipline and the ability to stay one step ahead of the market place. Sherye has a passion for living a healthy lifestyle that is based on clean, whole foods, supplementation, and education.

On behalf of the Board and the ownership, we would like to extend our thanks to outgoing Co-General Manager, Jessica Burtt, for her years of dedicated service.  Thank you Jessica!! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Finally, the Board is happy to announce that thanks to the support of our owners and shoppers, we were profitable this year!  In these hard economic times, the ongoing support of our customers is greatly appreciated.  Let’s keep it up in 2011!  We wish you the best during the holiday season.

In cooperation – Your Board of Directors

Tidal Creek Cooperative Board Meeting

Board Members Present: Tanner Postma, Anthony Garguili, Jane Bace, Melissa Foley, Joe Kertesz, Alison Linthicum, Dana Tart
Also Present: Jessica Burtt, Craig Harris
A. Welcome: Tanner welcomes everyone to the Board Meeting
B. Owner Comments: None
C. Approval of Minutes: Approved as written
D. Board Process Monitoring: 4.4 Board President’s Role; Accepted as written
E. G.M. Report:  Jessica gave us an update on the membership numbers; March (3164) and as of today we are up to (3444). Great jump for the Month.
F. Monitoring Report: 2.2 Treatment of Staff; Accept report as submitted, noting non-compliance with acceptance of a plan to reconcile (item 2.) safety policies and procedures. Jessica and Craig are actively working with OSHA and will give the Board monthly progress reports.
2.1 Treatment of Consumers; and 2.4 Financial Planning and Budgeting; Both accepted as submitted.
G. Planning Committee Update: This was a great experience for everyone involved. The Board will be working on a wrap-up of what we discovered through the meetings as well as discussing further action for the future.
H. Farm Tour/ Picnic Committee:  Still in the discovery stage.
I. Old Business:  None
J. New Business: The Board decided to take time at the end of each Monthly meeting to discuss a pertinent topic in more detail. Topics will be determined at the discretion of the Board members.
K. Evaluation/Comments/Concerns: None
Next Board Meeting; May 24, 2010

Tidal Creek Cooperative Board Meeting
March 22, 2010
Board Members Present; Tanner Postma, Jane Bace, Melissa Foley, Joe Kertesz, Dana Tart, Bob McFeeters, Anthony Garguili, Alison Linthicum
Also Present: Craig Harris and Jessica Burtt
A. Welcome: Tanner welcomes everyone to the meeting.
B. Owner Comments: None
C. Approval of minutes: Approved as written
D. Board Process Monitoring: 4.3 Agenda Planning; Accepted with non-Compliance-pending a review at our upcoming retreat with Michael Healy, in regards to planning more than 1 month in advance.
E. G.M. Report:  All is well.
F. Customer Survey: Customers overall are satisfied with Tidal Creek. Any issues will be addressed at the manager’s upcoming retreat.
G. Monitoring Report: 2.0 Global Executive Constraint; Approved as written.
H. Monitoring Report: 2.2 Treatment of staff; Move to April agenda, but keep on March calendar cycle in future.
I. Monitoring Report: 2.8 Communication & Support; Accepted with compliance.
J. Planning Committee Update: Reviewed minutes from last two Planning Meetings. The next meeting will be on April 13th with Tanner and Bob, regarding Co-op Business Models.
K. Creating Board Annual Report: We will create the report in June to be published in the next newsletter which has a deadline for publication of July 1st. This will be a May Board Meeting Agenda item.
L. Newsletter Topic Time: Alison will be penning our contribution to each newsletter. The Board, as a whole, during scheduled Board meetings, will discuss topics and information to be included.
M. Utilizing Social Media: The Board will forward our Agenda and Minutes to J.R.  Anthony will monitor our Board Blog.
N. Retreat Planning: The date is set for Sun. May 16th.  One topic will focus on the functioning, or nuts and bolts, of the Board’s inner workings; ex. Agenda Planning. And one topic will be regarding an educational subject; ex. Expansion-yes or no, and if so, how to deal with competition when it arises?
O. Volunteer Research: Postpone until next newsletter.
P. Saturday Board Tabling: Joe will be available one Sat. during April to interact with our members and also allow them the opportunity to fill out a comment card if they wish. This will be a trial to see if this form of Board presence is desired by our membership.
Q. Farm Tour/ Picnic Committee: Tanner will champion this committee and will seek out interested cohorts to help plan this tour/picnic, to be happening in the Fall.
R. Old Business: None
S. New Business: Melissa Foley will be resigning from the Board as of June 15th, 2010, as she is moving out of State.  Melissa has been a positive force on our Board and will be truly missed.
T. Evaluation/Comments/Concerns:  Jessica requested that a member who is moving away be allowed to collect their membership monies through resignation. It was allowed.
Next board meeting: April 26, 2010

Board Members Present: Tanner Postma, Anthony Garguili, Melissa Foley, Jane Bace, Dana Tart, Kathryn Sisler, Bob McFeeters, Alison Linthicum
Also Present: Craig Harris and Amy Fleming
A. Welcome; Tanner welcomes everyone to the meeting.
B. Owner Comments:  None
C. Approval of Minutes: Approved as written
D. Board Process Monitoring: 4.2 Board Job Products; We feel there should be a Board presence at each Tidal Creek scheduled event. This already holds true for the most part. Otherwise approved as written.
E. G.M. Report: All is well. Amy’s simplified financial report was approved for future use.
F. Monitoring Report; 2.3 Financial Condition and Activities; Approved as written
G. Planning Committee Update: We should utilize Mike Healy for future preparation of Planning Committee ideas and structure.
H. Old Business: Still seeking the perfect place for our Member wide Spring Picnic Social. Also, Bob will champion the issue of the “living wage” through more research into the subject. He will report back to the Board with a policy proposal.
I. New Business: Our General Managers and Management Teams will come up with a future plan for our store. They are already in the process of brainstorming different scenarios to see what will best fit our store and its needs.
J. Evaluation/Comments/Concerns: None
Next Board Meeting: March 22, 2010