Membership: 115 certificates sold to 93 members + 1 member on payment plan.

Member Loan Total: $47,000 (not changed since last meeting) LCNB Bank a/c Amount transferred: $3897.99 Balance $3102.30

It was agreed that financial reports will be submitted every other month. A report from the Buyer’s Club will also be included in the future.

In other financial matters, Debra received two bills, one from the attorney $200) and the other from CDS ($138) for reviewing the by-laws. Both bills were handed over to Amy. It was decided that rather than paying the bills at once, we should wait until April 1st to find out if the OCDC grant is approved.

Full Moon Development Team Meeting: Susan provided a report on the meeting. 15 people attended and there was an overall enthusiasm on the part of the volunteers. Susan introduced board members and gave an overview of MOON Coop and its goals and objectives, and, outlined the phases of development.

Three groups were formed. Each group had a board member advising them. Membership – Steve (Jenny Gelber, Keith Gelber & Gisela Bahr) PR – Linda & Debra (Kim Medley, Yvonne Lippa, Roz Galtz, Meg Jones, Mary Keppler) Site – Susan & Harv (Susan Adamow)

Each group identified a facilitator who will report to the Board. Roz Galtz will facilitate for PR. The PR group met again and is developing a poster, and photos are being scanned for the website. Based on comments received at the meeting, it became clear that members needed an update on why the store had not opened, yet. Susan and Steve will work on the first update, which will be a detailed letter. Future updates will come from the PR group in the form of a half-page mailer.

Grants: Ohio Cooperative Development Grant: Application was submitted on March 16. Community Food Project Competitive Grant Program: Meg and Brooks Vostal will join Grant Writing group. Marketing Study Report: Report was positive and very encouraging. Size of store: Recommended 3,000 – 4,000 sq. ft total area with 2,500 – 3,000 sq. ft. sales area. Startup budget reflecting potential customer base: Debra suggested that CDS could be asked to prepare a Financial Plan for the two sizes recommended in the market study. She will contact Bill Gessner for a proposal and cost estimate.

Officer elections: Postponed to next meeting.

Rental Sites: Report on Stewart Site: Susan passed out drawings of the proposed development. There are three sites for retail stores (4,000 – 4,500 sq. ft. each) in this proposal.

Additional Business: Buyer’s Club – The Board decided that members of MOON Coop will be able to shop through the Buyer’s Club and non-MOONers will be able to use the Buyer's Club. There will be no annual fees for the Buyer’s Club. Information about the buyer’s club and how to use it will be provided to MOON Coop members through the monthly updates or through the newsletter.

Dates:
Buyers Club -Pickup: March 29 Order: April 12
Next Board Meeting: Sunday April 10th from 3-5 pm;
Location:LCNB/Community Room (Room has been reserved for this date and time. Sharmila will pick-up the key.
Full-MOON Development Team meeting: Sunday, April 17th 1:30 – 3:00 pm at LCNB/Community Room.

Minutes prepared by Sharmila

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes February 26, 2005

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Susan Callan, Amy Pace, Debra Peter, Sharmila Pradhan, Steve Dana and previous Board member Charlie Stevens.

Harv facilitated the meeting. Agenda was amended and approved. Minutes from the 2/20/05 meeting were amended and approved.

Sharmila and Charlie gave a presentation on the USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grant. The components of the project were outlined, the goals for the funding were identified and possible ways to meet those goals were presented. They recommended that the grant be submitted in 2006 to allow for adequate preparation time. Board members expressed reservations about the expanded scope of the proposal, project sustainability, added costs and administrative requirements, absence of focus on getting the storefront operational, and noted that the time frame on the grant would further delay the store opening. The Board agreed to remain attentive to opening the storefront as it's first priority, but supported the grant work group pursuing the grant as an outside activity with Board participation as needed.

Changes made to the bylaws were approved and we agreed to send the changes to our attorney for review.

In financial matters, payment of a bill of $275 for 2004 tax preparation was approved. The member loan committee reported opening of the member loan deposit account at LCNB with an initial deposit of called-in member loans of $7,000. Transfer of $3,897.99 was made from this account to the regular checking account to pay the first bill for the marketing study.

Final preparations were made for the Full MOON Development Meeting on March 6. Members and supporters who signed up to participate were contacted by email and the rest of the membership received the announcement by email or postcard. Board members volunteered to call people who had signed up to participate but haven't confirmed their attendance at the meeting. Susan gave an overview of her planned presentation that would focus on education, inspiration and organization. We confirmed the work groups that would be formed and we agreed to announce the search for members who would have skills, time and experience that they would be willing to share in the site selection process. Board members volunteered to act as initial organizers and jumpstart the work groups. Grants: Sharmila, Membership (Member Equity Drive): Steve,Fundraising Events: Amy, Community Education (Website, Newsletter, Comm. Events): Debra & Linda, Site Selection: Harv & Susan.

Susan reported more information on the Stewart School site. Plans for the development include over one acre of central green space, capacity for 120 students upstairs, 24' wide access roads, CVS as the potential anchor, other tenants so far a decorating center, a drop & ship store, a restaurant, and two 4,000-4500 square foot parcels remaining to lease.

We agreed to add discussing the election of Board Officers on the agenda of the next Board meeting. The next meeting date will be March 20, 3-5 PM in the LCNB meeting room.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Sunday, February 20, 2005

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Linda Simmons, Susan Callan, Amy Pace, Debra Peter, outgoing members Charlie Stevens and Joanne McQueen, and incoming members Sharmila Pradhan and Steve Dana.

Harv facilitated the meeting. Agenda was amended and approved. Minutes from the 2/6/05 meeting were amended and approved.

New Board members, Sharmila Pradhan and Steve Dana were welcomed to the Board and outgoing members Joanne McQueen and Charlie Stevens were thanked for their dedicated hard work and cooperative spirit over the past three years.

We agreed to delay the Full MOON Development Team Meeting to March 6, 3-4:30 at LCNB or the Library. More time is needed to prepare for the meeting and notify all the members.

The Board discussed several recommendations made by Bill Gessner of Cooperative Development Services in reviewing our proposed bylaws. In response to his suggestions, changes to the proposed bylaws were made to simplify the membership system, raise the number of Board members to nine and allow the membership to approve Board recommended changes in the equity requirements.

A preliminary bill from CDS for the marketing study of $3897.99 was received. Board member loan subscriptions will be called in to create a pool of funds to pay for the study.

Harv reported that our CPA has completed and submitted our federal and state tax filings for 2004. It costs $50 to file with the state, federal filing is free. We will be billed by the accounting firm for the preparation and filing.

We discussed the need to move the two refrigeration units that we have stored in a member's barn. We decided to contact a refrigeration company to inquire about refurbishing them, selling them, storage, or other possibilities.

Sharmila explained the USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grant that we will be applying for. The purpose of the grant is to support the development of Community Food Projects with a one-time infusion of Federal dollars to make such projects self-sustaining. The primary objectives of the program are to increase the food self-reliance of communities; promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm and nutrition issues; develop innovative linkages between the public, for-profit, and nonprofit food sectors; and encourage long-term planning activities and comprehensive multi-agency approaches. We discussed how our short and long term objectives correlate with the grant requirements. Board members volunteered to assist with contacting potential project partners. The grant also requires a project director and an authorized organizational representative.

We also discussed a reply from Kevin Edberg of Cooperative Development Services in regard to an inquiry about their experiences with this grant program. The grant can fund up to $300,000 for a project but requires matching funding from the applicant. He recommended applying for the grant after completing a market analysis and feasibility study, and possibly a business plan, and having a substantial match.

MOON will be co-sponsoring a presentation by agricultural economist John Ikerd on Mar. 9 at Miami. Harv invited the Board members to a potluck dinner with Mr. Ikerd before the talk.

Amy reported that the Souper Supper has netted a total of $2,153.35 in dinner profits, donations, food sales, and new memberships. The current member count is 92, certificates 114 and total member equity $16,650. Linda reported that the member loan program has received an additional member loan subscription of $5,000 bringing the member loan program total to $47,000.

We agreed not to change our website domain to a .coop instead of a .com. Our yearly cost for the website would double and we are already identified as a coop with our current name.

The next Board meeting is set for February 27, 3-5PM at LCNB if available.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Sunday, February 6, 2005

Board members present: Linda Simmons, Susan Callan, Joanne McQueen, Amy Pace, Charlie Stevens, Debra Peter.

Susan facilitated the meeting. Agenda was amended and approved. Minutes from the 1/9/05 and 1/23/05 meetings were approved.

A date of Sunday, February 26 was set for the Task Force Development Meeting at the LCNB community room. The decision was made to focus the efforts of volunteers on three of the four facets of Fundraising: the member equity drive, events and grants. Amy volunteered to see that Steve Dana is contacted to see if he is still interested in organizing the member equity drive. Susan volunteered to facilitate the meeting. Final presentation preparations and objectives for the task forces will be done at the next meeting.

The nominating committee reported that Steve Dana and Sharmila Pradhan have volunteered to run for the 2 available Board positions. Since we have no other prospects, and in the interest of time, energy and resource conservation, the Board decided to utilize the right of Board appointment as stated in our proposed Bylaws. The two new Board members will be requested to begin their terms with attendance at the next Board meeting on February 20. A potluck dinner at Susan's will follow the meeting to welcome the new members and to say farewell to Charlie and Joanne.

The Buyer's Club report included a request for authorization to pre-order 20 member pricelist subscriptions. UNE no longer ships catalogs with the delivery and all catalogs must be ordered by subscription through the buying club coordinator. The subscriptions cost $12 per year and with the next order due date reminder, buyer's club members will be given the opportunity to sign up to receive home delivery of the pricelists.

The Ohio Cooperative Development Center will be featuring the MOON Coop on their website in the month of March. They have been provided with our information and we have requested to preview the feature write-up. In other website issues, Debra will gather information about the option of renewing our web address on the .coop domain sponsored by the National Cooperative Business Association.

Details of the USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program(CFPCGP) have been released and we will be meeting with our grant writer, Sharmila, to determine our eligibility and discuss strategy. Charlie and Debra have volunteered to assist with this task.

Amy reported that reimbursements for the Souper Supper are still being processed. Susan reported that our potential chef for the next dinner would like to be scheduled for June or later. We decided that could be advantageous with the increased availability of local organic produce. Joanne reported on the room rental rates at the Oxford Arts Center and we discussed the possibilities for our next event including local musicians and food ideas.

The new member report included 7 new members directly or indirectly attributed to the Souper Supper. The member count is now 92 and the number of certificates sold is 114. Joanne requested authorization to print more membership brochures. The Board discussed ways of informing new members about the Buyer's Club that wouldn't cause confusion. We decided to consider doing a feature article about the Buyer's Club for the newsletter.

The final copy of our proposed bylaws will be sent to Bill Gessner of Cooperative Development Services for review.

The Member Loan Committee continues to contact new members about one month after they have joined the co-op to inform them about the member loan program.

Debra volunteered to research money market accounts at LCNB and NCB for our membership deposits account. We discussed the necessity of having the account with NCB as an advantage in our loan application. We also discussed the relationship of our current financial situation to the requirements in the original bank proposal and the revisions that would be the result of the market analysis. We agreed that Harv should proceed with his offer to start the USDA loan guarantee process.

Linda reported that the owner of the funeral home site has submitted a request to city council to remodel the building into apartments. The owner also intends to raze the old antique store next door and build a new retail space with parking. He was interested in our project but said that the new space probably wouldn't be available for another year.

Susan reported on information from Scott Webb, the architect for the Stewart School mixed use development. The anchor store will be CVS and the remainder of the spaces will be leased in 5000 square foot parcels, of which there are a few left. He said construction would likely begin in 5-6 months depending on the securing of permits. Susan also researched the old Lazarus site, which is actually 2 separate leases with minimal insufficient tight rear parking.

Announcements were noted and will be posted on the website. Next Board meeting set for Sunday, Feb. 20, 3:30 PM at LCNB with potluck at Susan's afterward. The Full MOON Development team meeting is set for Sunday, February 26,(since changed to Mar. 6) 3PM at LCNB. Buyer's Club initial order due date is Feb. 15 with delivery March 1.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Board Of Directors Meeting Minutes Sunday, January 23, 2005

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Linda Simmons, Joanne McQueen, Amy Pace, Charlie Stevens, Debra Peter and Susan Callan.

Harv facilitated the meeting. Agenda was amended and approved. Agreed to suspend meeting when Pete Davis, market analyst arrives.

Harv presented category summary financial reports for the 2004 calendar year. These reports will be included in the annual report to the membership to be posted on the website. We discussed items that will be sent to our accountant for 2004 filings.

Harv also reported that Dawn Evans agreed to coordinate the produce order for the buyer's club and John Harmon has agreed to unload the truck. (Since this meeting, Dawn had her baby prematurely, but doing well, and will not be able to coordinate the order.)

Preliminary report on Souper Supper shows $905 in meal purchases, $252 in donations, $16 in bread sales, 3 new members and 4 member surveys returned. It was agreed that donors and volunteers should be thanked on our website.

Possibilities for our next fundraising event were discussed including dates, participants, music, the availability of local produce, etc. Several Board members volunteered to make preliminary contacts.

The nominating committee for the two upcoming Board positions reported that two members have volunteered to run on the ballot. Since there is no contest, the need for a formal election was questioned, as the proposed bylaws allow for appointment by Board vote to fill vacated seats:

"Vacancies may be filled until the next annual meeting through a vote of the majority of the remaining directors. If no action to fill an existing vacancy is taken by the Board for more than two consecutive Board meetings, then a Special Meeting may be called to fill such a vacancy." Section 5.2

The meeting was adjourned to meet with the market analyst doing the marketing study for us that is required by the bank.

Next meeting tentatively set for Sunday, February 6, 3:30 PM at LCNB.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Sunday, January 9, 2005

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Linda Simmons, Joanne McQueen, Amy Pace, Charlie Stevens, Debra Peter.

Harv facilitated the meeting. Agenda was amended and approved. Minutes from the 12/12/04 and 12/19/04 meetings were corrected and approved.

Plans were reviewed and confirmed for the Souper Supper on January 19.

The Board discussed the pros and cons of including term limits in the Bylaws. Final decision was deferred until next meeting when Susan's input could be included. We agreed to have the consultant review our final copy before submitting it to the membership.

The nominations committee and annual meeting committee reports were presented with agreement made that the annual meeting would be held according to the change in the bylaws of having the fiscal year end June 30. The annual meeting must be held within four months of the end of the fiscal year which would be sometime between July 1 through October 31. The two Board positions that we will be electing in February will run February 2005 through to the elections held in 2006. These two positions were designated as even year positions.

We agreed to present the Task Force Development project at the Souper Supper. Harv and Susan would staff the information table and we would ask Susan to present the concept in her presentations during the dinner.

We agreed to meet with the market analyst on Sunday, January 23 at 5:30 during our regular Board meeting. We also decided to request a brief closing meeting with him before he leaves on Tuesday morning.

Amy reported 2 new members. Linda reported that the member loan committee has received an additional $2000 loan pledge.

In finances, the final reimbursement of our grant, $3009 has been received and deposited. Approval was made to pay the $600 consultant fee. Amy reported our accounts as checking $3204.97 and membership savings account $15786.32.

We decided to contact Dawn Evans to see if she would be interested in coordinating a produce order again this winter for the Buyer's Club. It was also noted that some members had to wait for local producers to arrive at the delivery with their orders. We decided to request that local growers participating in the delivery should arrive at least 30 minutes before the posted customer pick-up time.

Marilyn Greeson at Oxford Real Estate has confirmed that the 127 N. Church retail site has been signed for a long term lease by another organization. She has offered to contact us if another appropriate site becomes available.

Next meeting was set for Sunday, January 23 at 4:30 at LCNB. Buyer's Club orders due Jan. 18. Delivery day Feb.1.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes December 19, 2004

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Amy Pace, Susan Callan, Linda Simmons, Charlie Stevens and Debra Peter

Harv facilitated the meeting. Due to power outage, the agenda was composed on the spot and the minutes from the previous meeting were not available.

The annual meeting planning committee presented an outline of the proposed plan for the annual meeting. The outline included providing time for socializing, accomplishing the business agenda, opportunities for member education and providing child care. The topics of food, expenses, music, speakers, presentation and roles were discussed. Susan presented the idea that the purpose of the meeting should be to “connect, educate and inspire”.

Several changes have been presented for the proposed bylaws. The Board discussed the pros and cons of the mail-in ballot requirement, decided to change the fiscal year to July1-June 30, and discussed the idea of term limits. Final changes will be made at the next meeting.

Term length of the two February Board vacancies was clarified to be through 2006. In addition, if the bylaws are approved as proposed, three Board positions will come up for election in 2005 within 4 months of the end of the fiscal year (June 30). It was approved to send out an email to members announcing that nominations are open and mailing the announcement to those without email.

Harv reported that Dale Filbrun will donate organic chicken and homemade noodles for chicken noodle soup for the fundraising dinner. Amy reported that we need to find volunteers to make the chicken soup, bake dessert cakes and help at the site. The poster for the supper was amended and approved and Linda will take care of the printing.

Harv contacted our accountant, Pete Abner, of Kirsch and Ludwin to begin the preparation of our account. He has requested our tax ID number and copies of our articles and proposed Bylaws.

Amy reported that we received another membership to make a total of 83 members.

Next meeting was tentatively scheduled for January 2, time and place to be announced.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes December 12, 2004

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Amy Pace, Susan Callan, Joanne McQueen, Linda Simmons, Charlie Stevens and Debra Peter

Harv facilitated the meeting. Additions to the agenda were taken and minutes from the December 4 meeting were approved.

Updated copies of the membership solicitation letter and brochure were distributed to the Board members to be further distributed to members who had requested them. Joanne will have the additional copies to fill future requests.

Amy presented the details for the Soup Supper scheduled for January 19, 5 to 7:30 PM at the Holy Trinity Church. We decided to look into having the nursery open and providing childcare. Cooks were reminded to order their ingredients from the Buyer’s Club. We also decided to do a recipe booklet for this dinner. Anyone who would like to volunteer to help with the dinner should contact Amy.

The member loan committee reported that 18 members committed a total of $40,000 in loan money to the co-op. A note was sent to all members detailing the results of the drive and thanking them for their support. On an ongoing basis, the committee will be sending future new members the member loan program letter and following up with a phone contact.

Amy reported five new members this week for a total of 82 with 97 certificates sold for a total of $14,550 (plus interest) in the membership certificate account. A bill was received from Cooperative Development Services for the meeting with Bill Gessner (financial consultant) on November 8. A bill from Paust Printing was also received. The Board authorized payment to Paust and delayed payment of the CDS bill until our grant reimbursement arrives.

Harv, Amy and Debra visited two Oxford accountant firms to locate an accountant that would be able to do the Coop taxes and the bookkeeping for the future store. We inquired about their experience with cooperatives, the classes of financial auditing, their fees for audits and tax preparation, system set-up, payroll service and our current filing requirements. The recommendation was made to go with Kirsch and Ludwin because of their experience with nonprofit cooperative business and their comparable fees. The Board agreed.

The nominations committee will be preparing a job description for positions on the Board of Directors. Board members brainstormed a list of potential candidates for the two positions that will be available in February and agreed to make personal contacts with prospective candidates.

Susan, Charlie and Joanne volunteered for the annual meeting planning committee.

Next meeting date was set for Sunday, December 19, 3:30 at LCNB.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes December 4, 2004

Board members present: Amy Pace, Linda Simmons, Harv Roehling, Joanne McQueen, Debra Peter, Susan Callan and Charlie Stevens

Harv facilitated the first half of the meeting and Susan did the second half. Additions to the agenda were taken and the minutes for the meeting on November 21 were approved.

Susan reported that a member of the co-op would like to send membership brochures to a group of friends with a personal invitation to join the co-op. Other Board members have also received this request. It was agreed to update the membership invitation letter and brochure and make these items available to current members who would like to solicit their friends on a personal basis.

Our consultant, Bill Gessner, has contacted the co-op to inform us that Steve Dorn, the market analyst from CDS that we hoped to employ for our marketing study, has a heart infection and won’t be able to do the study in January as planned. Bill recommended that we contact Pete Davis, the other analyst at CDS. Pete will be coming to Bloomingfoods in late January and we could take advantage of reduced transportation costs if it would work out (he lives in WA state). Pete said that he would contact us as soon as he confirms his trip with Bloomingfoods.

In communications with Marilyn Greeson of Oxford Real Estate, we learned that another group is very close to signing a lease for the building that we were hoping to rent from Bob Blackburn. Marilyn said that she would continue to watch for rentals that would be suitable for our use.

Plans for the Fundraising Dinner were discussed. The Holy Trinity Church has been reserved for January 19 with the meal served from 5 to 7:30. An assortment of homemade soups will be provided by the Board members and we hope to have several organic homemade breads, cookies and beverages. We will be contacting a local farmer to see about supplying poultry products.

Linda reported that the current total of member loan pledges has reached $37,000. Reminder postcards have been sent to members who gave a verbal pledge with the goal of ending the current drive by December 6. The member loan committee will solicit loans from new members on a monthly basis but no sooner than two weeks after they become members.

We discussed the idea of contacting executive personnel of Miami to inform them of our storefront goal and how it will benefit the community and the university. Susan volunteered to compose a letter with that focus.

Meetings have been scheduled with accountants Doug Jacobs and Pete Adner on Wednesday, December 8. We will be discussing their fees and our book-keeping and accounting needs to determine if either of them would be willing and able to take on our account.

The preliminary copy of our Full MOON Task Force Development Team chart has been formulated. The chart will be used to guide our cooperative to the storefront goal by organizing and defining the tasks to be accomplished. Member volunteers will be able to use the chart to match their skills, availability and interests to the tasks that need to be accomplished. In developing the chart, we were encouraged by the number of tasks that have been skillfully accomplished by our current member volunteers and we hope to recruit many more generous talented folks.

The Nominations Committee is currently reviewing possible candidates for the Board positions that will be on the ballot in February. Three positions will be up for vote; one position will have Linda Simmons running as incumbent so at least two additional nominations will be needed. Board members will be reviewing the MOON membership list for possible candidates. All nominations will be needed by January 1. The annual meeting is tentatively scheduled for February 16.

We reviewed the timeline from the last meeting, noting tasks to be accomplished. Announcements were made and the next meeting was set for Sunday, December 12, 3:30 at LCNB.

Minutes prepared by Debra

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes November 21, 2004

Board members present: Amy Pace, Linda Simmons, Harv Roehling, Joanne McQueen, Debra Peter, and Charlie Stevens

Harv facilitated the meeting. Additions to the agenda were taken and the minutes for the meeting on November 14 were approved.

Steve Dorn, a market analyst with Cooperative Development Services, has been contacted to conduct the feasibility and marketing study required for our bank loan. His fee will be at least $6000 which consists of $4500 for the study and $1500 for travel expenses. The Board discussed the information that we would need from the study in addition to what the bank requires. Steve has requested that we supply some local information, MOON’s historical information and our expectations and plans for the store. The study will be conducted the second or third week of January. CDS will send us a contract and $3000 will be due upon signing.

Harv presented a summary report of finances for the period 1/1/04 through 11/21/04. Our total inflow for this period was $8,364.55 and our total outflow was $8,026.39 giving us a balance of $338.16. Our member certificate savings account totals $14,729.92. We have a total of 77 members and 98 certificates sold. Amy has located two local accountants who are interested in working with us. It was agreed that members of the Board would meet with them to discuss our needs and their fees.

Linda reported that the member loan committee has received subscription agreements from 2 more members bringing the total member loan money pledged to $26,000.

Continuing the work on the FULL MOON Development Team chart, we agreed to collate all the task force position descriptions composed by the Board members onto one chart to be reviewed at the next meeting.

In reviewing our timeline, several decisions were made. The next newsletter is scheduled to be published and distributed by January 12. A homemade soup, bread and sandwich spread fundraising dinner has been tentatively scheduled for January 19 at the Holy Trinity Church. A tentative date and location for our first annual meeting is set for February 16 at LCNB. Copies of our proposed bylaws and a ballot with the nominees for three Board positions will be mailed to all members by January 12. Amy and Harv have volunteered to interview and recruit candidates. Any member wanting to be included on the ballot may contact them. All nominations will be due by January 1.

Next meeting date will be December 6 or 7 depending on availability of a meeting site.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, Sunday, November 14, 2004

Board members present: Debra Peter Susan Callan, Linda Simmons, Amy Pace, Harv Roehling and Joanne McQueen.

Rental site: Susan reported that Bob Blackburn was meeting with the other group interested in our potential site in order to sign a rental lease.

Debra indicated that the old 5/3rd bank location is available and is locally owned. The monthly rent is $4,000 and the space includes 1,900 square feet and sits on a 15,625 square foot lot. Taxes are $307 monthly and the building was completed in 1975.

Task Forces: Susan and Debra presented task force charts/lists and the board discussed how to combine the two. It was decided to add "Fiscal Management" to Susan's headings which included: Site, Fundraising, Store Planning, Promotions. The proposed name for the entire working group (including MOON board members) is The Full MOON Development Team. We all signed up to work on various task forces/tasks.

Bill Gessner/Marketing Survey: After reviewing our meeting with Bill Gessner and hearing from Steve Dorn (Co-operative Development Services) that the marketing survey would not happen until mid-January, the board agreed to go ahead with the marketing survey using the Board member’s loans. Cost of the survey is about $6,500.

Real Estate List: Amy suggested and Debra will call Marilyn to let her know that we're interested in other sites.

Finances: The board agreed to hire a local accountant and our working checking account balance is $608 (before submitted bills).

The next meeting date is Sunday, November 21st at the LCNB from 3-5.

Minutes prepared by Joanne

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for November 7, 2004

Board members present: Susan Callan, Harv Roehling, Amy Pace, Joanne McQueen, Debra Peter, and Linda Simmons.

Guests present: C. S. and Suio Chen

Harv facilitated and the meeting was opened with additions to agenda. Minutes from previous meeting have not been approved, yet.

Positive comments were made about the Chili supper. Amy said that she would have a report on the profits from the supper at the next meeting.

Susan reported on Bill Gessner's (of Cooperative Development Services) upcoming visit. She presented an agenda for his visit including dinner, tour of proposed store site, meeting with Board to discuss the timeline, project budget, and role of Board management. Also a half hour would be devoted to meeting with the Member Loan Committee.

Financial report was given: Buyer’s Club - $600 balance; Savings Account (member certificates) - $14,100; (88 certificates and 74 members). Amy reported on trying to find an accountant specializing in cooperatives. She has a few names and will contact them to see if they can help us.

Susan gave the report on the Member Loan Committee. She explained the calling process and the rating plan for responses suggested by Bill Gessner. She and Linda are in the process of making calls to all of the members to see if they received the information about the program, have any questions or if they would like a loan booklet mailed to them. Nov. 27 is the target date for the conclusion of the ML drive with a 2 week spillover time allowed. Debra shared a sample of the Thank You note that will be sent to loan contributors. It was approved.

Joanne reported that another mailing had gone out. (Initial letter explaining what MOON Coop is about). Harv and Steve Dana will contact people to serve on the membership committee drive in Jan.

For fundraising it was suggested that we sell MOON t-shirts and pursue trying to get them printed on organic cotton. A fundraising dinner is scheduled for January. A date for the annual meeting was discussed. It will be put on the next meeting's agenda.

The next meeting date is Nov. 14 from 5-7:00pm in the LCNB community room.

Respectfully submitted, Linda Simmons

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, Sunday October 24, 2004

Meeting was facilitated by Susan Callan. Agenda was approved as amended. Minutes of previous meeting were approved as emailed.

Preliminary report on chili supper showed 133 adults and 2 children with gross income of $1106.00. Two new members joined that night and 8 surveys were filled out. One person wanted to buy a T-shirt. General feeling among Board was that the supper was a great success. Our turn-out continues to climb. One guest suggested that if one became a member that night, their dinner could be free. Susan made three presentations about the co-op during the meal which were well received and the feeling was that these should be repeated in the future. Linda will look into the cost of the T-shirts for possible future sales. Offers of help for future meals: Dale Filbrun would like to help in the future with eggs and or chicken. Lyman Peck expressed interest in baking the bread. Debra suggested we ask him to bake the bread with us supplying organic ingredients through the Buyer’s Club. It was generally felt we achieved our goals of community building, creating a buzz about the coop, and fund raising. Next meal will be considered after the first of the year.

Susan will be contacting Bill Gessner of Cooperative Development Services this Wednesday.

Debra reported she received a letter from Ohio State University requesting our registration as a supplier for a request to purchase. She will contact OSU to determine what this is about.

Financial report: Amy reported checking has a balance of $2065.06. A detailed report will be presented at next meeting. Savings account (member certificates) has a balance of $12,886.38. Amy reported the accountant she had contacted had not returned her call. The Board was concerned with the lack of response. We suggested Amy try one more time and then perhaps we should look elsewhere. We need information on the IRS status of donations to our cooperative. Susan will ask Laddie (an attorney who specializes in cooperatives) the question on tax status of donations.

Membership report: we now have 72 members with 92 certificates sold for a new savings account balance when deposited of $13,826.38. Steve Dana expressed interest to Amy to help with a membership drive. He submitted a detailed plan proposal. Harv will contact Steve to set up a meeting for Saturday, October 30. When a membership drive committee is set up, the Board will retain approval on mailings, money expenditures, events, press releases, and fliers.

WMUB is announcing our membership drive and web site. Linda reported an article about Moon Coop appeared in the Miami University student newspaper. Those who read the article were pleased with it.

Susan submitted time line to Bill Gessner.

Building rental: Susan delivered supper flyer to both Marilyn and Bob.

Harv will contact Jess and Sharmila about finding a grant for the market study.

Next meeting: Sat. Oct. 30, 2:00 - 3:00 pm with Steve Dana about the Membership Drive.

Next Board Meeting: Sunday, Nov. 7, 2004 5:00 - 7:00 pm

Minutes prepared by Harv Roehling.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes October 17, 2004

Board members present: Amy Pace, Linda Simmons, Susan Callan, Joanne McQueen, Debra Peter

Amy facilitated the meeting. Additions to the agenda were taken and the minutes for the meeting on October 10 were approved.

Details were reviewed for the chili supper on October 20. Work stations were assigned, prep list reviewed, and contributions confirmed. We reviewed and revised a member survey to be passed out at the dinner to help identify volunteers to help with future co-op events and committee work. We agreed to have a poster acknowledging the local producers, volunteers and donors who contributed to the meal. A mini booklet of the recipes for the dinner would also be made available to the dinner guests. The timely success of our Oxford Press article submission, the Miami Student newspaper article, announcements on WMUB, the newsletter mailing, and postcard reminder/request were noted and appreciated. Susan volunteered to make a presentation several times during the chili supper to update members about the status of the future storefront and to inform everyone of the importance of recruiting new members. Linda volunteered to get seasonal decorations for the tables. Joanne volunteered to get the site opened up, take care of the printing and coordinate the welcome table.

The Board agreed to express it’s appreciation to Editor Susan Flowers, writer Barbara Hamilton and everyone who helped with the premier issue of GRASSROOTS, our newsletter. Great job!

In financial matters, a $100 bill from Cooperative Development Services for assistance with the member loan program was submitted for payment. We discussed bank safe deposit box sizes and rental rates and decided to rent the medium size at LCNB for $31.95 per year. The box will be used to store the subscription agreements and promissory notes from the member loan program in addition to other important documents. We discussed known and unknown upcoming expenses and our sources of income. We decided to contact Travis West at the Ohio Cooperative Development Center to see if he could expedite our grant reimbursement for the expenses that we submitted in September.

Board members present had reviewed the member loan program materials that were distributed by email and gave their approval to go ahead with the mailing. We agreed to contact the absent Board members to include their approval. The member loan materials consist of a cover letter explaining the need to raise cash, a page of member testimonials, a brochure containing an application for the information booklet and the actual member loan information booklet which explains the program and contains the subscription agreement and a sample promissory note. The next step will be to mail the cover letter, testimonial page and brochure to all members. The member loan information booklet will be supplied upon member request. Susan and Linda will then be contacting all members to confirm that they received the initial mailing and to answer questions about the program. Linda will be the Board’s authorized agent to receive the subscription agreements and execute the promissory notes.

Amy reported that we now have 67 members with 87 certificates sold for a total of $13,050. 78 new addresses will receive the membership solicitation letter. Linda reported that the Miami Student newspaper may be willing to do more articles about our cooperative. A member drive proposal has been submitted by Steve Dana. We decided to postpone discussion about the proposal until after the chili supper at a meeting when more of the Board members could be present.

Next meeting was set for October 24, 5 to 7 PM at LCNB Community Room. Next Buyer’s Club order due date is October 26 for delivery on November 9. Check the Calendar page of this website for other upcoming events.

Minutes prepared by Debra Peter.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for October 10, 2004

Board members present: Charlie Stevens, Amy Pace, Susan Callan, Linda Simmons, Harv Roehling

Amy took minutes. Harv facilitated. Agenda was approved with additions. Approval of previous meeting minutes was deferred.

The working timeline was approved to send to Bill Gessner of Cooperative Development Services (CDS).

Linda reported that MOON’s first newsletter would be mailed on 10/13 to all members. Newsletters will be available at the Uptown Farmer’s Market, the Chili Supper, and the buyer's club delivery site.

Amy reported that MOON has 64 members with 84 certificates sold. She had been in touch with accountant Doug Sitzler and reported that he would be in touch to set up a meeting with board members about tax-exempt status, payroll, and other issues. Bob Reno is an accountant he works with for non-profits.

The upcoming chili supper event was discussed. Surveys for members to volunteer will be distributed at the dinner. Details were discussed. Charlie reported that an article about MOON and the chili supper was submitted to the Oxford Press. The board discussed the idea to have other articles submitted to the Oxford Press concerning organics, sustainable living practices, etc. and decided more discussion was needed. Linda reported that she would be interviewed that evening for an article in the Miami Student. She would also contact WMUB to advertise the chili supper.

There was a discussion about members becoming more involved and volunteering to help with fundraisers, dinners, events, and member gathering. Amy would contact member Steve Dana and ask him to submit his ideas for member gathering by Friday to be discussed at the next board meeting.

Susan and Linda reported on the Member Loan Program. CDS and attorney Laddie Lushin are reviewing the Member Loan Booklet, appeal letter, testimonial page, and the brochure to be sent to all members. All members would receive a follow-up call from Susan. Susan thought the first mailing would be Friday the 15th. The need for a safety deposit box was discussed. Linda volunteered to contact banks for sizes and prices.

The next Board Meeting will be Sunday, October 17 from 3-5 PM at the LCNB meeting room. Debra Peter will take minutes. Buyers Club order due date is October 26.

See the CALENDAR for other upcoming events. Minutes by Amy Pace.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for September 18, 2004

Board members present: Charlie Stevens, Amy Pace, Susan Callan, Linda Simmons, Joanne McQueen, Harv Roehling and Debra Peter.

The agenda was approved with additions made. Harv gave the treasurer's report and Amy went over Karen Baldwin's summary report from the Buyers Club.

Debra reported that we received the grant reimbursement of $1900 and that there's another quarterly report due for the grant at the end of this month.

Oxford Press Article - Amy presented the article that she wrote for the Oxford Press for additions/corrections. There was much discussion concerning the article. Charlie offered to take the article home and work on it with Lynn. Then he would email it back to members for approval. The article could be one of a series of press releases to help create a "buzz" about the MOON, to increase membership interest and, also, to publicize our upcoming fund-raising event.

Fund-raising event - Joanne contacted the Episcopal Church about available times that we could rent the space for a chili supper. The cost is $100. Susan said that we may be able to combine several things at the chili supper: possibly hand out by-laws for members to review before a member meeting in Nov., at which time, we would take a vote on the by-laws, as well as, elect 2 new board members. The chili supper fund-raiser would also be part of our new member drive, help to build our member base and promote a general feeling of goodwill in the community.

Menu: various kinds of chili made by the board members including vegetarian, vegan, and chile w/meat (ground beef donated by Charlie), cornbread, salad (Harv's lettuce), dressings (possibly, homemade),cookies. It was decided to get cider from Scott Downing. Efforts would be made to use organic and local ingredients where possible. Charlie will contact "Woven" to see if they would be willing to sing for part of the dinner time. We decided on Oct. 20.

It was discussed that the Oxford Press article needs to go in on Oct. 8 in order to publicize the chili supper. Linda offered to contact WMUB about the event and MOON in general. Susan suggested that we divide up the membership list and call members about the supper and encourage them to bring a friend.

Member Loan Committee - The committee, Linda, Debra, and Susan, are working on collecting testimonials for the mailing and will revise them next meeting. A conference call with Bill Gessner is planned for 9/29 discussing the mailing (letter, brochure, testimonials) and coaching for phone calling.

Debra has checked into tax exempt status for donations. There is a 4 page IRS form to fill out, plus a $500 fee to file under an "agricultural cooperative exemption". It was decided that we need to consult an accountant experienced in cooperatives. Debra is going to ask Carolyn, our attorney, for a recommendation.

Susan reported that she spoke with Laddie Lushin, the securities attorney working on our member loan program, over the phone. He is researching Ohio law and Susan will talk with him next Thurs. again. He has requested a retainer of $1000.00. He charges $120/hr. and has estimated that the whole charge for his work should be around $2500. It was decided to go ahead and pay the retainer fee. The $1600 balance due to our other attorney (Carolyn) doesn't have to be paid until Dec. Debra is to check to see if we can submit Laddie's fee from the Grant money. The bill from CDS ($300) will be coming due soon, as well.

The remainder of the agenda will be discussed at the next meeting as we ran out of time. The next meeting will be Sat., Sept. 25, from 5 - 7:00 pm in Susan's office.

Respectfully submitted, Linda

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for August 26, 2004

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Susan Callan, Joanne McQueen, Amy Pace, Debra Peter

Additions to the agenda were taken and minutes from the August 19 meeting were approved.

Treasurer's reports included a buyer's club checking account balance of $1,438.28 ending July 29. Harv will be moving the member certificate money of $7,350 from the credit union savings account to the LCNB savings account. Our LCNB checking account balance is $1,123.48, the savings account balance is $4050.23.

Amy reported on certificate purchases: 5 new members with a total of 7 certificates purchased this week. Overall total of 56 members, 76 certificates with a grand total of $11,400 in member certificate purchases to date. Amy also reported receiving a donation in the amount of $50 which we agreed should be deposited in the checking account. We approved the thank you letter that Amy composed and the Board greatly appreciated the donation. Debra volunteered to post our progress on the website with some kind of visual illustration.

In evaluating the response to the solicitation mailing, after subtracting returned mail, our response rate came to about 3.5%. Joanne reported that this was in the upper end of the accepted range of response for that kind of mailing. Debra also reported that the activity on the website had improved after the mailing. We are continuing to add names and mailing lists to our contacts for membership

The member loan committee of Susan, Debra and Linda Simmons met on Wednesday of this week. Debra reported that the committee reviewed an article by Bill Gessner of Cooperative Services Development on Conducting Member Loan Campaigns. The committee developed an action plan that includes: increasing membership purchases (to increase the legally acceptable loan contact base) by implementing a phone follow-up campaign, categorizing members to increase success and minimize accidental contact overlap, and personal contacts by Board members to generate interest. The member loan committee will also be holding a conference call with Bill Gessner to get coaching in effective member loan solicitation calling. Susan reported on contacting Laddie Lushin, an attorney who specializes in cooperative law for information on drawing up the legal papers for the member loan program. He has had experience in Indiana and Ohio in member loan programs. He quoted a price of $2000 to $3000 to draw up the papers for our program. We agreed that Susan should contact an Ohio attorney, recommended to us by our attorney Carolyn Eselgroth, and determine which would be the better option. The member loan committee will be meeting weekly at 9-11 AM on Wednesdays.

Dr. John Benamati, associate professor in the department of Decision Sciences and Management Systems and faculty advisor for Miami Business Consulting, contacted the Co-op about possibly preparing the marketing study requirement of our loan. MBC is an organization of business students that do consulting work for local businesses. Debra will contact the National Cooperative Bank to see if a study done by the student organization would be acceptable to the bank.

Susan reported that she has given Marilyn Greeson, our potential landlord's realtor, an update on our progress. Marilyn told Susan that the site was still available. Susan also gave Marilyn a copy of the bank's required consent and waiver to give to potential landlord Bob Blackburn for his perusal.

The Board talked briefly about future issues of adjusting our timeline, equipment acquisition, a general membership meeting and the hiring of a general manager.

Next meeting date is set for 4 to 6PM on Thursday, September 2 with the only agenda item of finalizing the bylaws. The following meeting is set for Sunday, September 12 from 3-5 PM with the normal agenda.

Next buyer's club order due date is Tuesday, August 31 and next delivery is Tuesday, September 14.

Minutes prepared by Debra Peter.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for Thursday, August 19, 2004

Board Members present: Debra Peter, Joanne McQueen, Susan Callan, Amy Pace, Harv Roehling

Susan facilitated the meeting and Amy took minutes. Agenda was approved with additions. The decision was made by quorum vote that Board Members would take turns taking minutes at board meetings per alphabetical order of last names. Approval of minutes for the July meetings was deferred.

Concerning membership and fundraising issues, Amy reported that we currently have 72 certificates sold totaling $10,800.00 and 51 members. Joanne reported that 240 fundraising/membership letters were mailed Saturday 14, 2004. Thank you Joanne and Linda for your great effort!

Debra reported on a phone conversation with Bill Gessner, our contact from CDS (Cooperative Development Services), concerning cash flow, the member loan program and the marketing study required by the National Cooperative Bank. Bill recommended two members of their company who conduct those types of studies. Debra and Susan are looking into alternatives that would be more cost efficient for MOON. Debra also reported on her conversation with Bill concerning sources and uses of MOON’s money. Susan will send copies of the store design drawings to Bill Gessner for review. Debra will download forms for sources and uses, income statements, balance sheets, and debt service sheets from CGIN. Bill said these would be needed yearly. Susan will contact Laddie Lushin, a cooperative law attorney in Minneapolis recommended by Bill, about the Member Loan Program.

Susan reported that the Oxford Community Foundation turned down our grant request because it did not meet their mission. The OCF did say our grant proposal was well done. Thank you Sharmila for your effort!

Susan reported that she has been in phone contact with the realtor of our proposed site, keeping them updated on all of the paperwork and recommendations required to secure our loan. The Board discussed the hiring and training of a general manager for the storefront.

Deferred to a later meeting: Speakers Bureau, By-laws, equipment.

The next Board meeting will be held August 26, 2004 at Susan’s office, 3:00-5:00pm instead of Sunday August 29. Debra Peter will take minutes.

Buyers Club dates: Orders due August 31. Next delivery September 14. Minutes prepared by Amy Pace.

MOON Coop Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Sunday, August 8, 2004

Board members present: Charlie Stevens, Amy Pace, Linda Simmons, Debra Peter

Amy facilitated the meeting and Debra took minutes. Agenda was approved with additions. On the Member Equity Drive, Amy reported that 5 more certificates were purchased bringing the total number to 69, our total dollar amount for certificates to $10,350 and our total membership to 46. She presented 3 letters to be sent to different categories of members and non-members to solicit additional certificates and contributions and to provide a contact for our forthcoming member loan program. Joanne has volunteered to get the letters printed and do the mailing within the next week. We also spent some time brainstorming names to add to our mailing list.

On the member loan program, our attorney has recommended that we contact a securities attorney in Columbus to develop the member loan materials because of the complexity of complying with state and federal securities laws. All the members present approved the attorney’s recommendations and Harv Roehling and Susan Callan had also sent their approval. The committee to formulate and administer the member loan program consists of Susan, Debra and Linda. The committee will be contacting the securities attorney about fee estimates.

Linda Simmons reported that she has ordered 15 tee shirts printed with the MOON logo for Board members and their partners. We are looking forward to wearing these shirts when we participate in the Miami Walkabout on August 22 and 23. Linda is graciously purchasing these shirts for the Board and we appreciate her boundless, thoughtful support of our cooperative efforts.

Susan sent word that the Oxford Community Foundation Grant has been submitted and would be considered at their meeting on August 10.

We’ve received a loan proposal from the National Cooperative Bank detailing their requirements to supply us with financing. After discussion, we developed a set of questions to be sent to the bank to clarify some of the requirements. Input from absent members Harv and Susan was also included. One of the loan requirements is an updated marketing study. Debra will consult with Bill Gessner of Cooperative Development Services about their fee schedule and contact information for performing this type of service. The call will also include a discussion of our financial projections and our member loan program.

Next meeting was already scheduled for August 19, 10:30 to 12:30 at Susan’s office and we scheduled a further meeting for Sunday, August 29 from 3 to 5PM pending approval at the next meeting. Buyer’s Club delivery is August 17 at 1:30, next order due date is August 31, next delivery is September 14.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Thursday, July 22, 2004

Members present: Susan Callan, Debra Peter, Harv Roehling, Joanne McQueen, Amy Pace and Linda Simmons. The agenda was approved with additions and revisions. Harv had some additions and changes for the bylaws, but we'll wait until next meeting to discuss them.

The MOON ad will appear in the Indiana papers Thurs. or next week (Brookville, Liberty). Debra said the website spiked after the weekend (possibly from the Farmers' Market).

SPEAKERS BUREAU: Joanne reported that some of the mailing lists she had were outdated. She contacted Sharon Peterson of the League of Women Voters and Oxford Sr. Citizens. Sharon was very enthusiastic and will put the info in both organizations' newsletters. They would also welcome a speaker. Joanne also called Three Valley Conservation and left a message.

AMY'S LETTERS: Buyers Club letter - Susan read a revision of the letter that Barbara Anne was working on/editing - a combination of Susan's and Amy's letters. Barbara Anne is an English Professor at Earlham. Susan will ask Barbara to finish editing the letter and when it's complete, she'll send it to Debra for letterhead and approval. A sentence about the member loan program needs to be included in the letter. Return address labels will be printed by Amy with her address on it. Approximately 250 (80 of those are Buyers Club members) will be sent out. The Buyers Club members get a second letter included explaining the transition of the Buyers Club to the retail store front. (The Buyers Club will no longer exist once the storefront is operating.) Joanne offered to be in charge of the mailing.

BROCHURES: Some changes need to be made to the brochure: Projected date for opening the storefront is fall 2004, MOON is a non-profit cooperative association. Joanne will have 500 copies printed.

LCNB ACCOUNT: Debra reported that there is $498.48 in the LCNB checking account. Amy brought new checkbook and checks to show everyone.

NCBA MEMBERSHIP: A delegate needs to be designated to be our representative to the National Coop Bank Association. Joanne volunteered. Harv, as President, will sign the form.

FINANCIAL DATE: Amy reported that 57 certificates have been sold ($8550)

BANK LOAN: The 10 resources needed by the bank are almost completed and all should be done by Fri., 7/23. Susan voiced displeasure with the bank (NCBA) due to the fact that they are slow in responding. She suggested that more pressure be put on them by setting up a timeline and dates each step will be completed. Debra stated that Debbie Rausch with the USDA is on the ball and has been contacting people regarding our loan.

MEMBER LOAN STATUS: Debra will send member loan info to Bill Gessner at CDS.

MEMBER CERTIFICATE MONEY: Response from Carolyn (attorney) concerning the financial status of member certificate money and how it is to be used and designated for what purpose. After Harv read Carolyn's response, it seemed to the Board members that the questions had not been answered. She talked about "Board Policy" and said it depends on the "Bylaws". There was some discussion on subordination of funds. At this point there are no guarantees. Susan stated that we need to relay to people that we are "moving ahead in good faith and give no guarantees." She stressed that we need to MOVE FORWARD by collecting funds now! We will resume this discussion and get clarification from Carolyn.

NEXT MEETING: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm at Susan' office, Wed., July 29.

Meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted, Linda Simmons

MOON Coop Board of Directors Meeting Minutes July 15, 2004

Board members present: Harv Roehling, Joanne McQueen, Charlie Stevens, Linda Simmons, Debra Peter, and Susan Callan. Additional members present: Sharmila Pradhan

Agenda additions were taken and the agenda was approved.

In buyer's club matters, Debra reported that the July order has been sent in and it totals about $2182. Delivery day is Tuesday July 20.

Joanne reported that she has mailed member certificates and thank-you letters to 29 members and will be hand-delivering the rest of the packets. Postage totaled $17.40.

Travis West from the Ohio Cooperative Development Services contacted us to report that our grant disbursement would be delayed until the end of July because of their switching to a new accounting system. He also indicated that they have received our new tax ID number. Sharmila reported that we will be able to apply for a grant from the Oxford Community Foundation and she will get the form.

As far as our new bank accounts at LCNB, we have received online account access.

Debra reported that we haven't received the official bank loan proposal yet. The Board requested that we contact NCB and indicate our need for the proposal in order to continue to go forward. We will also offer to begin preparations to expedite the USDA loan guarantee.

On the status of the member loan program, Sarah Lebherz, General Manager of the Community Market Food Cooperative in Frederick, MD has sent us their member loan program materials. The difference between their program and the program at Outpost Foods in MN was quite large. We decided to contact our attorney to see if she might have a prototype that meets Ohio regulations.

Bill Gessner, the financial specialist from Cooperative Development Services who will be assisting us in refining our financial projections, recommended that we get a copy of the "Expansion Toolbox" to help us. This manual is available through the Cooperative Grocer Information Network. We have sent applications for membership to the National Cooperative Business Association and CGIN and will order the manual as soon as our membership is confirmed.

Susan, Harv and Charlie met with our future landlord, Bob Blackburn on Wednesday the 14th. They discussed the renovation loan rates and terms possibilities. He also offered some good ideas for promoting our business and acquiring business services at reasonable rates. The negotiating team talked with him about our commitment to community and the benefits of developing partnerships with businesses and groups who share that vision.

Susan reported on the search for equipment for the storefront. Susan, Debra and member Barb Caruso visited Mary Jo's Cuisine (the business has been sold) to see if she might have any items that would be useful for us. Mary Jo gave us several teapots that we may be able to use and referred us to the future owner for several other pieces of equipment that we may be interested in. The Board also authorized the purchase of a used 3 part stainless steel sink for $150 from a friend of member Brandon Ney.

In news on the membership drive, Charlie has sent membership ads to run in the Brookville and Liberty papers. Joanne will be working with member Julie Campbell-Ruggaard to set up promotional talks with local clubs and organizations.

In committee work, website updates were reported and Linda reported on a meeting with the newsletter editor, Susan Flowers. She reported on questions about size, mailing procedures, quantities, timeline, etc. The editor will be holding a brainstorming meeting in early August to generate topics for the newsletter and welcomes anyone who has an interest in contributing to the newsletter.

Susan suggested that we start focusing some of our time and energy on recruiting member assistance for the work ahead. She identified some areas that will be needing attention in the near future such as renovation crews, inventory ordering, transition information for the buyer's club, skilled trades and member recruitment. The idea of a fall membership meeting was brought up.

The date for the farewell party for member Andy Farrell will be moved up to late July and will be posted as soon as finalized. The Buyer's club delivery is July 20 at 1:00. The next order due date is August 3. Next Board meeting is July 22, 11 to 1 at Susan's office.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Coop Board of Directors Meeting Minutes July 7, 2004

Members present: Charlie, Harv, Joanne, Debra, Susan, Linda, Amy

Agenda approved w/additions

Buyers' Club: Catalogs will bought by the bunch and made available at pick-up.

MOON certificates purchased: 53-54 according to Amy. Amy requested help in getting the certificates ready to mail. She had 2 phone calls from people who saw the ad in the newspaper.

Tax ID #: We have it! Debra gave to Amy and will give to Susan.

Bank account: Susan, Debra and Amy will be the legal signers for our checking account. Susan requested that we have "MOON Cooperative Services Inc, a Non-profit Organization" printed on the checks. All approved.

Equity Drive: Amy presented drafts of two different letters that can possibly be used with corrections and additions to be sent as fund-raisers. We still need more info and a little editing. It will possibly be ready the week of July 19th. We need to contact groups to obtain member mailing lists and get permission to distribute info: Linda - Oxford Peace and Justice; Charlie - the churches: Lutheran, Trinity, Hopewell.

Member Loan Program: Debra is in the process of obtaining applications from other coops concerning their member loan programs. She spoke with Bill Gessner in Minn., a financial consultant for "CDS" - Cooperative Development Services. They specialize in assisting coops in start-up and expansion. The initial contact is free. After that it's $100/hr. We all agreed that we would use their services on a "need only" basis. Other associations that we approved to join were: National Cooperative Business Association($350) and Cooperative Grocers Information Network ($175).

Meeting with Bob Blackburn: Susan, Charlie and Harv met with Bob. Possible scenarios were discussed. Renovation plan: We will take site when loan is approved. He asked for no earnest money. Rent quotes were $1500 the first year, going up to $2000. Considering a 5 yr. lease. Renovation loan would be $25,000. Harv estimated the monthly payments would be $485/mo, 5 yr. @ 6%, and be separate from our rent. These are just possibilities no lease was signed.

Advertising: Charlie will put ads in the Hamilton and Indiana papers.

Used equipment is still being looked for by Susan and Debra.

Steve Dana would like us to carry his cheese in the store.

Debra reported that the hits on the website increased substantially after the ad came out.

Next meeting date: July 15, 11-1:00 pm, Susan's office

Respectfully submitted, Linda Simmons

MOON Coop Board of Directors Meeting Minutes June 30, 2004

Board members present: Susan Callan, Harv Roehling, Amy Pace, Joanne McQueen, Linda Simmons, Debra Peter

Additional members present: Sharmila Pradhan and Jess Camp

Sharmila and Jess presented a report on the grant writing workshop that they attended in Cincinnati on June 19. We discussed our financial needs and priorities in relation to the types of grants that are available. We also talked about some of the creative ideas that were generated at the workshop.

The main purpose of this special session was to discuss finances for the storefront. Debra reported on a conference call meeting that she had with the loan department of the National Cooperative Bank in Washington, DC. NCB's fundamental purpose is to provide services to the nation's cooperatives. Congress created NCB to provide for the development of new and existing cooperatives in rural and urban areas by offering credit and technical assistance. The Managing Director of the bank, Patrick Connealy, conveyed the bank’s interest in financing our start-up. According to the cash flow sheet that we sent with our application, they determined that we should acquire $25,000 more in back-up working capital. Patrick pointed out that the number one reason for start-up failures is a shortage of working capital. He gave the example of selling out your starting inventory faster than you had planned and not having the working capital to replace it. He gave two ideas for raising the extra working capital: member loans and negotiating extended payment plans with suppliers. The interest rates on extended supplier credit can be prohibitive so the Board agreed to set up a member loan program as soon as possible. We will be contacting Cooperative Development Services in Minnesota for assistance in setting up the program. Patrick was generous in recommending resources and seemed very interested in the success of our cooperative. He indicated that they would send us a loan proposal in about 10 days.

We also discussed some other ways of coming up with the 25K, including contacting the Oxford Community Development Foundation, asking for outright gifts and connecting with other organizations for grants.

Another item on our finances agenda included the discussion of our cash flow situation in relation to renovating the storefront site. We discussed the possibility of negotiating with the owner of our possible site, to finance the renovations. Harv presented several possible interest rate and term calculations. We agreed that the negotiating team would set up a meeting with the building owner as soon as possible to discuss this situation and the possibility of extending our agreement with him reserving the lease option for at least another month to allow us to complete our financial arrangements.

In other business:

Susan and Debra reported that Scott Webb has completed the initial drawings for the renovations and would be paid the initial design fee of $420. He indicated that he would be ready to move on the completion of the plans as soon as we were ready.

Linda reported that member Susan Flowers has volunteered to be our newsletter editor. Thank you, Susan!

Amy reported that the membership checks have been temporarily deposited in our credit union savings account and Debra reported that the tax number has finally been acquired. Amy will open our new business accounts at LCNB and make the appropriate transfers.

Minutes prepared by Debra.

MOON Coop Board of Directors Meeting Minutes June 23, 2004

Board members present: Debra Peter, Harv Roehling, Amy Pace, Joanne McQueen, Linda Simmons, Charlie Stevens and Susan Callan. Minute Taker: Susan Callan

TREASURER'S REPORT

Karen Baldwin submitted a report covering the past 3 months:

MARCH 1 through 31, 2004
Inflows
      Miscellaneous                        10.00
      Payments for monthly orders       7,295.54
   Total MOON Coop income               7,305.54

Outflows
      UNFI Order                         6,854.11
      Rent                                  60.00
   Total MOON Outflow                    6,914.11

Overall Total                                      391.43

APRIL 1 through 30, 2004
Inflows
      Donations                            980.00
      Payments for monthly orders        2,778.19
   Total MOON Coop Income                3,758.19

Outflows
      UNFI Order                         2,367.01
      Rent                                 155.00
      Supplies                             277.52
   Total MOON Outflow                    2,799.53

Overall Total                                      958.66

MAY 1 through 31, 2004
Inflows
      Donations                          1,189.00
      Payments for monthly orders        2,601.87
   Total MOON Coop Income                3,790.87

Outflows
      UNFI order                         2,312.65
      Miscellaneous                        355.90
      Rent                                  60.00
      Supplies                             383.58
   Total MOON Outflow                    3,112.13

Overall Total                                       678.74

Year, 2003    
Inflow           Agrarian times               36.32
                Dividends                      1.04
                Donations                   1003.00
                Membership Dues             1193.00
                Miscellaneous                 89.00
                Payment-Monthly-ord       37,149.10
                         Total inflow  + $39,471.46

Outflow         Equipment                  $1958.34
                UNE order                 34,792.44
                Miscellaneous                249.04
                Rent                         800.00
                        Total outflow  - $37,799.82

                     Year 2003 total     + $1671.64

January, 2004
Inflow           Miscellaneous                 6.00
                 Payment-Monthly ord        2123.34
                      Total inflow       + $2183.34

Outflow          UNE order                  1940.30
                 Rent                         60.00
                       Total Outflow     - $2000.30

                         January Total    + $183.04

Report October 1, 2003 to October 31, 2003
Inflows:
   Income
   Miscellaneous		6.
   Payments for mo. Orders	3479.28
   Total				3485.28

Outflows:
   UNFI Order			3260.65
   Miscellaneous		93.04
   (for printing)
   Rent				60.
   Total				3413.69

Overall Total			71.59
Balance as of 11/5/03		1846.30

Report November 1, 2003 to November 30, 2003
Inflows:
   Miscellaneous		3.
   Payments for mo. Orders 	3558.17
   Total 			3561.17

Outflows:
   UNFI Order			3183.66
   Rent				60.
   Total				3243.66

Overall Total			+317.51
Balance as of 12/16/03	2240.38

• Member Equity Drive: Joanne reports that Lynn Schloemer, Shaklee Products, would like to make a presentation to the board regarding their products. She has a proposal for the coop that would be designed to raise funds for the coop. Board discussed the same. These products cannot be sold on store shelves. The board decided to thank Lynn for her interest but not pursue this issue further at this time.
• New brochure announcing our storefront project: Debra P will incorporate the website address, cost per share, and payment plan concept in this current design. Will be reviewed again at next meeting. Cost per Coop Share: Joanne recommended $150 at last meeting. We discussed the issue of perhaps having a different and lower rate for fixed households and student households. We also discussed perhaps having a payment plan to spread the cost of a share over several months. Debra P said that most coops she has researched consider membership beginning once the first payment has been made. Amy P proposed keeping the payment plan to one year maximum. Linda S proposed using the concept of “90 days same as cash”.
• Debra P proposed that we consider Buyers’ Club renewals beginning in January 2004 be considered as buying a share in the coop in lieu of a membership fee. She also proposed that we offer those who pay a 5% mark up a waiver of 5% if they bring in a new buyer who becomes a Coop member and buys a share. Charlie S asked whether we would need to be a legally documented coop in order to accept money for shares. Amy P proposed that we could ask members each year if they can buy an additional share.
• Speakers’ Bureau: Joanne reviewed her committee notes and said a speakers’ bureau would be a way for us to get our message out. Susan C proposed that speakers could attend area meeting ie Garden Club, Kiwanis, etc. We discussed how we could find volunteers for this bureau. We reviewed the Skills Bank list. We identified several people and Joanne and Susan agreed to ask people identified.

Website: No new information.

Grants: Charlie S continues to look.

Newsletter: Committee members are enthusiastic but have not met yet.

Site Selection: Linda S did research on the old Miami Valley lumber building on South College behind Stewart School. The Dudley brothers own the building. She will continue to try and reach them. Susan C contacted the realtor for the house for the house for rent on the corner of High and Locust streets.

Farmers’ Network: Debra P reports that a letter has been composed to area farmers to notify them of our hopes to open a storefront next summer. Letter will be going out soon so that farmers might consider our storefront as they plan for the next growing season.

Fundraiser Meal: Harv R reports that Hopedale UU Church will charge us $35 per event for our fundraising(a reduced rate… thanks Hopedale!) dinners. There are UU members who would be very interested in attending such an event due to Sarla’s excellent reputation as a chef. Debra P will contact Sarla about dates she would be available.

Small Business Class Report: Debra P, Linda S and Susan C talked about the last meetings discussion of possible locations (ie house on Sycamore, house on corner of Main and Locust, Tollgate plaza).

Winter Solstice Party: Joanne McQ is coordinating this event. We are now trying for Saturday January 17, 2004 5-8 pm at Western Lodge, Miami University. Soups will be made by Linda S(vegetable) and Amy P(vegetarian chili). Joanne will order hot dogs(both meat and soy). Guitar pickers are still wanted! Harv will bring in camp song sheets for us to review. (note: We had to postpone this--see Jan. minutes)

Buyers’ Club Matters: Debra P reports our current order is over $3000 so far.

Turkey Sales’: Charlie S reports he ordered $450 in turkeys for Thanksgiving from Dale Filbrun. Dale has Christmas turkeys available.

ByLaws: Deferred till next meeting when it will be a high priority.

Until next time, Susan C 1-10-04

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Last Update 2-13-07