Public Board Minutes for 11/16/16

Grant: Some sad news to report. Montalbano Farms is going out of business after 10 years. They've been a big supporter of Chicago Market. And, one of the employees of Green Acres Farm suffered the loss of his young son when he was hit by a car while crossing the street. A GoFundMe has been set up for the family. 

Bill presented the monthly finance report. The only new activity is from new Owners and the small amount of money spent by the co-op on membership and other activities.

Emily stressed that Bill had explained the importance of making the pop-ups profitable.

Linn reported that the recent Food Tank event was well-attended and educational.

Heather committed to writing a blog post explaining that Tony has stepped down from the Board and that Greg is returning to take his place.

Jen gave a lengthy presentation on CM strategic foundation, based on the Board's offsite day-long workshop discussion in October.

Jen, Lizzy, Linn and Mark worked as a small committee to compile all of the ideas from that workshop to rework our mission and vision statement, and organize ends statements for features and services that would define the store. The strategy statement the team was working and building from was: Chicago Market empowers us to build a better food community.

The team presented new purpose and vision statements, evolving from the existing strategy. These will be our north star, she said. The revamped purpose statement better encapsulates who we are. 

The Board and Lee discussed specific wording for both statements. Jen's team will incorporate the changes and present the work at the next Board meeting. 

Grant discussed a follow-up to a Board survey completed this summer. One question asked whether the Board regularly evaluated its own work. Most Board members said we did not do that well. 

Grant and the Board listed some of the the things we'd accomplished since our August Owner's Meeting. Items included: Installing a strong treasurer, working on messaging strategy for the next six months, creating a framework for the Leadership Team, organizing two pop-up markets, working on our business plan and financials, installing new Board members, beginning the GM search process, having an offsite strategy discussion, moving to Basecamp 3 and more.

Grant asked what we should accomplish in the next three months. Some comments: A better sense of the timeline, completion of OLC documents, helping the Site team "think outside the box," investment in getting new Owners, focusing on being profitable in the things we're selling, writing ends policies, re-connecting with aldermen. 

Grant will prioritize these tasks and ensure that the proper teams are working on them.

The Board entered into executive session to discuss site-related issues.