PFC Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes for August 16, 2004

Attendance
Board Members: John Austin; Larry Horvath; Arun Mathur; Howard Shapiro; Duane Thomas; Laurie White; Carol Collins, PFC General Manager. Absent: Pete Schermerhorn

Julie Sverid, PFC Human Resources Director – facilitating meeting
Kathryn Sanderson, Member/Owner volunteer - recording minutes
Guests: Herb Alvord, PFC Member/Owner
Henry Hardy, PFC Member/Owner

Call to order
7:30pm by Julie

Member Comment
Herb Alvord said that a group of Ann Arbor residents is preparing a counter proposal in response to the City’s planned remodeling of Farmer’s Market. In response to his question, Carol noted that PFC sales are “huge” on Market days. Herb also described an apparent attempted robbery he experienced on Fourth Avenue. The responding police officer commented that police department staffing levels are low and that, in his opinion, businesses may wish to begin providing their own security. Julie will provide PFC’s Operations Manager with a description of the incident and the assailant.
Henry Hardy expressed concerns about the upcoming Café Verde renovation, feeling that there should be more communication with the Membership on such issues and that significant capital expenditures should be voted on by the membership. He suggested that profits could also be used to improve staff wages and working conditions.

Agenda Review
A question was raised about the status of the volunteer program discussions. This will be addressed at the September meeting. For the time being, the current program remains in place.

Announcements
All are reminded that beginning in September meetings will be held on Thursday, usually the third Thursday of the month.

Consent Agenda
minutes and web minutes of the 7/19/04 meeting; GM monitoring L.4.9 Financial Conditions & Activities, including second quarter financial reports. All Directors having reviewed and understood these materials, the consent agenda was approved.

Update on Task Force activities
PFC Member/Owners Rhonda McCammon and Matthew Graff, both accountants, have volunteered to serve on the Financial Audit/Review Task Force. Pete and Duane met with PFC’s accounting firm Yeo & Yeo in June to discuss this year’s audit. Progress in the Board Member Support & Training, Member Linkage, and Fundraising task forces is ongoing. Task force reports will be presented in September.

On-line Community Update
The listserve is used lightly, with 21 Member/Owners currently registered. It was expressed that an on-line/internet presence could be a useful way to involve a membership as large as PFC’s, and that continuation of the current experiment through December, at a current cost of $15/month, is worthwhile for purposes of analysis. Continuation of the current program through December was approved 5-0 with Larry abstaining.

Board workload
Further discussion and comment

Desirable major PFC program, product, and service expansions
Extended discussion of ideas and visions for the future. Carol commented that people continue to want more than we are able to offer in the current space alone. She noted that in 1992 PFC decided to grow and sought 10,000 square feet of retail space. What we found was 3000 square feet (the current store without the Café side). At that time, sales were $25K/week at Fourth Avenue. Now they’re approaching $90K/week in 5270 square feet. The importance of input from the Membership was emphasized. It was expressed that people want more than just shopping – they want to integrate more aspects of their lives. Discussion will continue at the September meeting.

Next Meeting
Thursday, September 23, 2004, 7:30pm at Menlo Innovations (212 N. 4th Ave).

Attendance
Pete’s absence was approved 6-0.

Adjournment
by Julie at 9:40.

Respectfully submitted by John Austin, Board Secretary