Board Report
Renée Lauber
WSGC Board President

Expansion Vote in This Month
These are exciting times for the Willy Street Co-op. Originally the Board planned to ask members for approval of an off-site kitchen, as the Co-op’s sales have expanded beyond the capabilities of our current space. The opportunity to open a grocery store in the Monroe Street neighborhood has prompted the Board to now also seek membership approval for a second store. Members are encouraged to approve both expansion projects in a ballot to be mailed to the membership July 5th.

The Board decided to put both of these expansion proposals to a vote before all the details have been worked out—before we have even reached an agreement with the owners of the Ken Kopp’s site. We are taking this proactive step to demonstrate our interest in the site and better position ourselves in the negotiations by having membership approval.

The ballot will offer three options: 1) approval of concept and expenditure of funds for the off-site kitchen and second store; 2) approval for the off-site kitchen only; 3) disapproval of both projects. (A second store with no off-site kitchen would not be viable, because it would require even more production and storage space than the current store does.) The Board will host an informational meeting July 14th at 7pm at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, 953 Jenifer Street, to share project details and answer questions so you can make informed decisions about the proposed growth of your cooperative.

Proposed By-Law Changes
Over the last several months the Board and Finance and Policy Governance committees have been reviewing the Co-op’s By-Laws. At the June Board meeting the Board voted to ask the membership to change the following By-Laws. You will receive a ballot in September asking approval for these changes.

By-Law Section 5.5
Current Language: The Board may remove any Director who fails to attend 3 consecutive meetings of the Board, by a vote of 2/3 of the Directors at the meeting.
Proposed Language: A Board member who is absent from 3 consecutive regularly scheduled meetings of the Board shall be considered to have resigned from the Board. However, the Board may reinstate the member by a majority vote, upon suitable application from the member.
This change is proposed to increase board accountability and to make resignation automatic.

By-Law Section 8.4
Original language 8.4 (Fiscal Year): The fiscal year of the Co-op shall be from the first Monday nearest September 30th to the Sunday nearest September 30th next, for a revolving 52/53 week cycle.

The Board has accepted the recommendation from the finance committee to change the dates of the fiscal year based on the current needs of the store. The proposed new dates will the Sunday/Monday nearest June 30th.
This change will make it easier to compare our performance statistics with other grocery cooperatives so that we can be sure we are performing within industry standards.

Budget
The Board reviewed and approved a proposed budget for presentation to the membership. The budget includes a projected sales increase to $12.8 million, a margin of 34%, personnel expense of 23.69%, and a net income of $55,940. It also includes $57,000 for planning the off-site kitchen and second site. And, it includes the proposed capital budget of $91,560. If plans for these two projects are finalized, there will need to be a supplemental budget to include expenses for these endeavors. Members will be asked to approve the proposed budgets in the September ballot as well as vote in this year’s Board elections.