PFC Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes for December 15, 2003

Attendance
Board Members: John Austin; Linda Diane Feldt; Arun Mathur; Martin Piszczalski; Howard Shapiro; Duane Thomas; Laurie White; Carol Collins, PFC General Manager.

Rusty Brach, PFC Information Technologies Manager - facilitating

Guest: Herb Alvord, PFC Member/Owner; Barbara and Jim Kovitz, PFC Member/Owners

Call to order - 7:30pm by Rusty

Public comment
The meeting began with a few minutes of quiet contemplation followed by individual reflections on Anne Benedict, PFC’s Human Resources Director, who died unexpectedly earlier this month. Anne had been an integral part of our group for almost three years, serving first as our note-taker then as meeting facilitator and participant in several Board retreats - as well as counselor, friend, and inspiration.

Consent Agenda
minutes and web minutes of 11/24/03 meeting; GM monitoring E.3 Strategic Priorities; Board self-monitoring reports G.1 – Governing Style, and M.1 – Unity of Control (both by Linda Diane). All Directors having reviewed and understood these materials, they were approved unanimously.

Ends Policy Development (Duane)
Based on full-participation discussion and comment, Duane, Howard, John, and perhaps Laurie will develop a revised version of the E.1 knowledge/information draft and circulate it in time for consideration before the next meeting.

Elections/Nominations (Howard, John, Laurie, Martin)
Personal outreach to potential candidates continues. The Candidate Information Packet will soon be available on the PFC web site.

Board Development Plan (Linda Diane, Howard, John)
Based on responses to the Board member survey the Committee proposed 2004 training sessions on four topics: understanding financial data, policy governance, market trends in natural foods retail, and Board information organization and management. Response was favorable and planning for those sessions will go forward.

Director Resignation Proposal (Linda Diane)
After brief discussion, the Board approved the new policy G.3.5 on Director resignation.

Board Expense Proposal (Linda Diane)
After discussion and minor revisions, the Board approved new policies G.8.3 and G.8.4 regarding the Board budget and credit card controls.

Annual Meeting Team Report (Martin, Laurie, Arun)
After discussion of several options, the Board asked Carol to proceed with arrangements and preparation for the meeting at the Pittsfield Township Grange Hall with contra dancing afterwards. The date will be March 26 or 27.

Next Meeting - Monday, January 19, 2004, 7:30pm at Menlo Innovations (212 N. 4th Ave).

Adjournment – at 9:30 by acclamation

Respectfully submitted by John Austin, Board Secretary