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  1. Public Meeting Notes May 2013

    May 6, 2013 by admin

    Monday, May 6, 2013
    7pm
    Fowler Family Center

    Welcomes and Intros, sign in sheet for new folks

    *If you have any interest in helping out one of our committees – Communications (Colleen), Finance (John), Membership/Outreach (Amber and Heather).

    Colleen and the rest of the board have been working hard on developing a plan for our membership.  Membership and outreach are key at the moment – looking to begin our membership drive very soon!

    Colleen and Cathy review co-op basics – check out the website and the blog for further information.

    *Due to the C-Town going in on southside, the board is reconsidering and working with Keystone Development Co-op to determine the next step for an alternate location.  Given this development, the board has put together a *short* new survey to help determine study the appropriate next move.  Send it to as many local folks as you can!

    www.surveymonkey.com/s/6h5kqt8

     

    Also through KDC, a few of our board of directors members had the opportunity to visit 3 Philadelphia area cooperatives.  A few thoughts taken away from these visits:  What do we want from this coop?  What feel do we want?  Where is an appropriate starting point size-wise?  What food principals does our co-op want to stand for?

    Santiago suggests some group trips down to the co-ops during the summer to explore those!

    At last board meeting, guests from Primera – financial planning group.  Currently exploring options as to how they might be able to help us out.

    Joe Amedeo is going as our Bethlehem Food Co-op representative to the Consumer Cooperative Management association meeting in Texas.  The board of directors is sending a Moravian Star as our contribution to the silent auction that benefits the scholarships for new start-up coops.  If you can, please consider donating to this cause – donate using the paypal contribute button to the co-op paypal account.

    We need business and health department licenses to continue having bake sales and taking donations.  Just a heads up.

    At this point the goal for the opening is still April 2014, but the board will begin developing a timeline to meet certain membership and financial goals to be certain that it’s feasible to move forward.

    John – finances: (not meeting often quite yet, but will need help soon)

    We’re incorporated, have a bank account, can begin legitimate fundraising.  Will begin looking for and writing grants to get money.  We need folks who have expertise in finding and writing grants.  Also need help with developing business plans, if you’ve run a business and have that knowledge base – basically any financial help .  Any help or expertise you could offer – talk to John and/or Cathy.  John@bethlehemfood.coop, Cathy@bethlehemfood.coop.

    Heather & Amber – membership and outreach update

    Household membership equity – $300 one time, $250 for initial founding members.  Payment plan available

    Perks:  discount on certain items through year, discounts on classes and workshops, discounts at local businesses.

    Upcoming outreach events – sign up to help us out!  Emails going out from Heather shortly.  Need folks to drop brouchures around, update brouchures, table at events, make baked goods, let Heather or Amber know about any appropriate opportunities for tabling.

    Southside film festival – June 12-15

    Secret art Space – June 9, baked goods and tabling

    Familia festival – June 8 10am – 4pm

    Fundraising ideas (since we can collect money now) – ANY ideas to take in money, get in touch with Amber, Amber@bethlehemfood.coop.

    Communications:  Colleen

    Working on materials to support the membership drive.  Also working on trying to figure out a new website.  Using Nationbuilder software to help maintain records.  If you have any experience or interest in working with the new site or that software, contact Colleen, Colleen@bethlehemfood.coop.

    Mike is working on a new newsletter – be on the lookout for it.

    Folks have brought up using Kickstarter as a possible funding option.  Kickstarter is a crowdsourcing fundraising website, though it could also help gain more national attention for our cause and coops in general, in addition to raising money.

    Communications is also working on a general information presentation as a way to easily and consistently share what our coop is all about.  Once that’s taken care of, we will get that information out to you.  Share it with your friends, family, neighbors – ANYBODY!

     

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  2. April 2013 Meeting Notes

    April 15, 2013 by Jennifer Davenport

    April 1, 2013, Bethlehem Food Co-Op notes 

    7:10 – begin/introductions (Matty leads), lots of new folks, including a possible group from Springtown!  (welcome!)

    Co-operative business introduction

    Co-operative business description – everyone works together to make a great business for everyone involved – benefits all members, builds sense of community and comraderie, sense of ownership, community owned and operated

    Goal is to provide quality food at good prices, improve community through classes and community outreach.

    Board report, incorporated in January, 2013, Cathy & Colleen

    -worked with Keystone development for feasability study, is feasible with fundraising and hard work

    -board continues to look through information and will divulge info as appropriate

    -news:  one of the properties on south side Co-op was interested in has been developed by C-Town (urban grocery chain)

    Given thist info a new store is opening, a new supplementary survey will be sent out to figure out what the next step is (PLEASE FILL THIS OUT – THIS WILL HELP IMMENSELY!)

    Cathy is putting together a best practices manual – when you have an idea to do or for something, you will know who to contact in order to make sure your ideas is heard and realized – she will make this public information once approved by the board.  In the meantime, please contact the following folks with questions or ideas:

    Money ideas- John (finance)

    Tech ideas – Matty (tech)

    Communication/website/newsletter ideas – Colleen

    Outreach/Membership/Drive/Community/Fundraising ideas – Heather

    Fundraising (specifically grants/loans) – Cathy

    Cathy and Colleen went to Doylestown to MAFCA – Mid Atlantic Food Cooperative Alliance, meeting in March – benefit from everyone’s successes and challenges/difficulties – next meeting June in Brooklyn at Green Hill Co-Op  - if interested in attending please contact Cathy or Colleen

    At this conference, it was noted that our fine Bethlehem food coop are folks were youngest in room, and are a young co-op in general.  Our co-op seems to be leading the way with social media (facebook/twitter communities) communication with the community at large.

    PACA – Philadelphia Area Co-operative Alliance – hosting a happy hour, April 16th @ 5:30pm – all welcome to go, location TBD – check out Philadelphia.coop or facebook page, opportunity to learn about cooperative business/practices

    Austin,TX June 6, 7, 8 – Joe, Jamie interested in attending (CCMA Consumer Cooperative Management association Conference) – opportunity to network and learn about cooperative businesses/groceries – if interested contact Cathy and/or Colleen, scholarships plausibly available

    Amber:  Membership/etc

    Membership drive starting soon!  We need people to table at events, it’s lots of fun and you get the opportunity to promote and talk enthusiastically about the co-op to get people interested and excited.  Please see below and volunteer when you can.  We love to see folks involved and taking part in the Bethlehem Food co-op community!

    1)  Earth Day on the Greenway (April 20, 21) – Starts 11:00 – 5:00 (12:00 on Sunday), sign up sheets around, bake sale also

    *25 organizations signed up to table or lead hands on activities, stages with music/speakers, exhibitors, children’s activities

    earthdaysonthegreenway.blogspot.com – any financial consideration is very greatly appreciated, or if you need further information

    2)  Northside/Southside Cleanup (Southside 4/6, Historic District 4/27) – wear your co-op shirt and enjoy beautifying our downtowns! (if you want a shirt, $15, can order online!)

    3)  May meet and greet (bring friends, or if you’re feeling intimidated, come and hang out)

    4)  Children’s Fest (June 11 – 15, coop working 6/11 and 6/15 – make healthy snacks) need volunteers to make snacks and/or distribute snacks!

    Now that we’re incorporated, we can officially begin a membership drive.  Membership structure outline:  Amber describes one-time membership equity investment (household $300, founding members $250, payment plan option of $25 per month for one year for those who need it) perks, local business discounts, discounts on classes/workshops offered at co-op, voting rights in business practices/products carried, eventual patronage dividends once making profit (based on what percentage of total sales are yours).  Open to public, but without certain perks.  One time investment/share, money back if/when leave co-op.

    Membership Structure vote – aye to approve, nay to disapprove, ayes have it.

    If you have questions, contact Amber or Heather! (amber@bethlehemfood.coop, heather@bethlehemfood.coop)

    Finance report: John

    Getting a bank accountt set up – heading to bank Friday 4/5 to set up account, going with National Penn Bank.

    Communications:  Colleen

    No March Meeting, April Meeting with Membership and outreach to develop pamphlets/forms with information relevant to membership.

    Constituency Management Software – Nationbuilder – manages all our data, daylong work session with a goal to finish website.  Anyone with knowledge or comfortable working in back end of computer stuff.  Doodle poll being sent out, contact Matty or Colleen if interested or able to help. (matty@bethlehemfood.coop, colleen@bethlehemfood.coop)

    Save The Kales show/blog – donated airspace/commercial to the Coop!  Share it around, available online!  Goal is to have it airing Sunday 9:30!  Yay, and thank you Jamie!

    Vegfest – offered to donate all silent auction proceeds to co-op! The co-op will man the silent auction.  Start looking for donations now!  Vegan festival this year, to keep ideas in line with the ethics of the festival.  If questions, contact Jamie (jamie@bethlehemfood.coop)

    FUNdraising:  Matty

    Tasting spoon event:  small bites that are delicious.  Large Valleywide expo to get lots of vendors/bloggers, community VIPs, etc to create spoons of delicious.  Folks give $25 or so to come and sample those spoons and judge, at the end awards given out to participants.  If you’d be interested in participating/volunteering to put this together, please contact Matty (matty@bethlehemfood.coop).  No set date yet, likely many months out.

    Cookbook udpate:  Will & Manny.  Looking to get lots of cultural representation of different neighborhoods/ethnicities.  Also looking into possibility of e-book, with possible additional updates in both electronic and paper formats.  Also ideas for taking recipes and then using them to promote specials at shop.  Also possible app-development help.

    Grants:  Cathy.  If you’d like to help or have grant-writing experience, contact Cathy (cathy@bethlehemfood.coop).  Have a list of 6-7 possible options.

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  3. Board of Directors Notes: March 2013

    March 26, 2013 by Matty

    Hey everyone! Fresh out of another board of directors meeting, here I am to present to you what’s going on.

    The meeting was called to order March 21, 2013 at 6:40pm, with Matty Sarro, Santiago Rivera, Colleen Marsh, Cathy Frankenberg, Amber Ott, Heather Manning, Joe Amedeo, and Jaime Karpovich in attendance. Jon Soden joined late, as did Andrew Bench.

    We began with a brief overview of our notes from the February 2013 meeting, followed by a review of tasks that were supposed to be accomplished. Members of the advisory committee can expect a formal email shortly (contact information to be provided by Colleen Marsh). Also, board of director biographies have been put on the website with the exception of Joe Amedeo and Matty Sarro, pending photographs.

    We also discussed our strengths as a board, as well as our opportunities for improvement. One major item was a discussion of switching towards an agile methodology, where as a board we and potentially all committees will set periodic checkpoints where lists of tasks will be assigned for all current outstanding projects, and the previously assigned tasks will be reviewed and the results discussed. Colleen Marsh has offered to coordinate this electronically.

    Cathy Frankenberg has formed an unofficial subcommittee to do grant research and writing. If you have any interest, please follow up with her. Most grant proposal submissions are due between July and August, so there is ample time to get involved if you would like to contribute. There is one grant proposal due earlier.

    Santiago Rivera suggested joining with the South Side Task Force’s monthly meetup. The meetings occur periodically at the Northampton Area Community College’s Fowler Center, at 4pm. More exact times are forthcoming. Santiago will be attending the meeting next week.

    A new grocery store appears to be opening on south side, which could impact the location we choose to open in. Further discussions will need to be held with KDC to see how this impacts feasibility study. We will be in active communication with other local cooperatives to see if they have insights to share on the matter.

    The Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance is holding a happy hour next week, on April 16th at 5:30pm. The location is still TBD, check their website for details.

    Colleen and Cathy reviewed the events from their presentation at MAFCA. They reminded us that in the upcoming times we need to maintain flexibility. The folks there were also kind enough to take some of our brochures to the Philadelphia Farm and Food Fest! A big item of note was “locovesting,” investing in the local community. There was also discussion of working with consultants, holding household potlucks and using those to generate further leads. To anyone at MAFCA who may be reading this, thank you for your kind words, we appreciate it!

    There will be an upcoming field trip on 4/13/2013, starting at 1pm, leaving from Springfield High School along Rt. 309. Santiago Rivera, Jaime Karpovich, and Matty Sarro will be in attendance. The CCMA conference is also forthcoming, which Joe Amadeo, Cathy Frankenberg, and Jaime Karpovich expressed interest in attending. It runs from June 6-8. All wishing to attend must apply for a scholarship if they wish to go. We also need to gather items representing the Lehigh Valley and Bethlehem Pennsylvania for a silent auction to help support the CCMA scholarship fund.

    We then moved on to the real meat of the meeting – membership structure. This is necessary for building our feasibility study. Initial discussion focused on student memberships, but was tabled. Amber Ott moved to make the member equity investment $300, with a discounted price of $250 for early members. The motion was seconded, and passed by a vote of 8-1. This will be put before the attendees at the general meeting for a vote of support. Also discussed was the establishment of a payment plan for individuals who show need. A $25 monthly payment plan was suggested, motioned, seconded, and passed. Also, we discussed researching subventions through other community members, with a goal of raising at least $100,000.

    The discussion also highlighted an issue with the current bylaws, as they are currently written in such a way that only members may vote to establish the cost of membership. However, given we cannot accept members until we already have a price structure, we would find ourselves in a conundrum. A motion was made for an amendment to the bylaws. This will be provided at the next board meeting.

    Committees may require charters in the future, discussion was tabled on this matter.

    Save the Kales has been kind enough to provide an advertising opportunity for us, and we need to record a 20-30 second blurb explaining the cooperative. We need to put this together prior to the first week of april.

    Finally, a full-day work session will be set up to build the cooperative website. A doodle poll will be forthcoming.

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  4. March 2013 Meeting Notes

    March 26, 2013 by Matty

    Bethlehem food co-op, meeting 3/4/13 (“call to order” 7:02pm)

    Agenda:

    Introductions (welcome and thank you to our new friends from Ambler Food Co-op!)

    Description of what a food co-op is

    Main goal: open community opened grocery store – likely south bhem where there is greatest need for a grocery store.

    – Introduce board of directors

    Accomplished:
    Feasibility study – where to go, how much money, square footage needs
    Worked with Keystone development Corp
    Incorporation
    Opening official bank acct with KNBT – board of directors voted
    Can start fundraising once acct is open

    Introduction of Ambler food coop folks – our co-op twin, began a few months of when
    Bhem did

    Ambler:
    Very walkable – mini urban in a suburban sprawl outside Philly
    NO grocery store, but lots of other commodity options
    Getting into bylaws, not yet incorporated, working with KDC now
    Decided to do pledge drive – interim organizing thing (pledge to become a member when
    the time comes
    Will start taking money once they’ve hit 400 pledges
    Builds systems for handling money and information once they are ready to start
    taking money, trains them to know what to expect

    Question: How are they reaching out to people?
    A: Internet/facebook/webpage/restaurant event/brewer made them a beer, emailed
    contact list, tabling at events
    Now need to: phone bank, 5k, tabling at local events, store information
    Creekside will come and train folks
    Manny’s suggestion: ask for referrals of folks who might be interested

    Question: Problems with demographics?
    A: They have. Mostly relatively affluent, with a little mix. Thinks a solution would be
    to go out and around door to door, if there are volunteers who are willing to do so.

    3. Board of Directors report – elected new board position
    a. Colleen – chairwoman of the board
    b. Treasurer – John
    c. Secretary – Matty
    d. Santiago – St. at arms to keep us in order ;)

    Amber: fundraising, will try to organize fundraising efforts

    Anyone with ideas contact her – she wants to get started,
    amber@bethlehemfood.coop

    Cathy – grantwriting interest or experience, contact her! cathy@bethlehemfood.coop

    Made connections with folks to preliminarily start looking at real estate

    Amber: got to go to a conference for up and coming food co-ops
    a. how to get members – training, be enthusiastic, stress community
    b. info on membership structure – voting postponed from this evening
    c. now more than ever – there’s lots of help available out there
    d. CCMA – in Austin, TX (Wheatsville Co-Op) in early June, scholarships
    available – anyone who might be interested in representing the co-op talk to
    Cathy and Colleen

    Vegfest (9/2013): involved again this summer – will let us do a silent auction, all
    proceed to co-op
    Want us to run it, collect donations (vegan, cruelty-free, vegetarian friendly)
    Will talk about it at board meeting, if interested in helping talk to Heather,
    Cathy, or Amber

    Addy award: Christian Weber and communication committee designed a poster series
    (Available on facebook page if interested)
    Series won a gold Addy award! (for adverts and advert firms) – big deal that the
    co-op won

    Communications committee – met last week
    Big agenda item – website is currently a blog, needs to be more than that to
    collect data, pledges, streamline the process.
    Been doing research – looking to purchase Nationbuilder (tracks lots of important
    data), will need to seek board approval
    Looked at doing a free software, but decided to go for the pay service
    Churches – will be calling local southside churches to see if there’s a way to get
    our information out to the local area
    Spring Newsletter – look for it in the next month
    Outline for MAFCA – Mid Atlantic Food Coop association – get an outline and
    information to meet other coops and get feedback (March 16 @ 11:00) – if interested in
    joining contact Cathy or Colleen
    New idea from Matty: First Words Workshop (info coming soon)
    Learn how to talk effectively about the coop, improve public speaking

    Finance committee: John none (setting up corporate bank acct)

    Will: Cookbook status (Sharon had a baby, was running it but is a little busy at the
    moment)

    Looking for people to help him get it done – find/ email
    (will@bethlehemfood.coop)
    Currently have about 50 recipes, looking for about 150
    Have a recipe? Head to the website to submit a recipe (needs to be your recipe)

    Heather (membership/community outreach committee): nothing major to report
    Involvement in upcoming events
    Bumper stickers! (Amber is looking at pricing for such a thing)
    If interested in helping out with membership/community outreach, or you have
    ideas, contact Heather (heather@bethlehemfood.coop)

    Question: Any grants?
    Answer: Yes, found some, working on grantwriting. If any experience or want to help,
    contact Colleen.

    Max: Suggestion: Local companies willing to help out. Ex: Justborn
    Raising Social Capital:
    Booster program at Dorney (5-10 ppl) – signing up now til 4/30 – take volunteers 16+
    and work 8 hr shifts for $50 each, Friday bonus extra $25
    payment made to your organization
    Guest bartending: $1 per drink that night, silent auctions, Amber will call

    Questions from Ambler: What technology are you using? Matty and Colleen explain
    College involvement/connections

    Adjourn: 8:14

    Next meeting Monday, April 1 @ 7:00, Fowler Center – will communicate the room.

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  5. Board Meeting Notes – February 2013

    February 22, 2013 by Matty

    Hi everyone! Here are the notes for the 2/7/2013 Board of Directors meeting, called to order at 7:39pm.

    1. Voted and passed resolution 2013.01 – The formal approval of the interim board of directors until we are able to hold elections for the board of directors.
    2. Voted and passed resolution 2013.02 – Elected Colleen Marsh the Chairperson of the board.
    3. Voted and passed resolution 2013.03 – Formal acceptance of the cooperative’s bylaws.
    4. Voted and passed resolution 2013.04 – Accept and recognize the formal public announcement of our cooperative’s incorporation. Let me know if you’d like to see it, it’s pretty cool!
    5. Voted and passed resolution 2013.05 – Elected yours truly (Matty Sarro) the interim secretary of the board.
    6. Voted and passed resolution 2013.06 – Officially formed the following committees within the cooperative: Advisory, Communications, Finance, and Outreach.
    7. Matty Sarro motioned to name Santiago Rivera the Sargeant at Arms of the board (to help keep us on track during meetings). The motion was seconded, and approved.
    8. Colleen Marsh motioned to supply board member pictures and biographies on the cooperative website. Motion was seconded and approved.
    9. Began discussion about the formation of advisory committee and its purpose. Andrew volunteered to serve as the liasion between the board of directors and the advisory committee. Matty volunteered to write an initial contact and thank you email to the advisory committee members.
    10. Colleen Marsh volunteers to contact Profit Maximizers.
    11. Voted to make all board of director meetings the third thursday of every month, with the exception of late february/early march 2013. For this single instance, the meeting will be held immediately prior to the General Meeting, at 6:30 PM on March 4th 2013.
    12. Discussion of Liability Insurance for cooperative, as well as director and officer insurance. At this point contact has been made to RMG insurance, as well as HMK insurance. Because of our current lack of exposure to liability, a motion was made to table the discussion until the start of our membership drive. This motion was seconded and passed in voting.
    13. Our initial bank account will be closed, and a new business account will be opened in the name of the cooperative. Current check signing ability will be limited to Jon Soden (current treasurer and chair of finance committee), Colleen Marsh (chairperson of board), and Cathy Frankenberg. The finance committee is to gather quotes from 3 financial instutions on their account offerings for businesses, with at least one quote from a large national bank, as well as one from a credit union.
    14. Colleen Marsh moves to appoint Jon Soden as the treasurer of the board. The motion is seconded and approved by vote.
    15. Heather Manning provided an update from the Membership/Outreach committee. The structure will ultimately be decided by the outreach committee, however a lower-cost working member investment opportunity will be made available for low-income individuals and students who prove necessity.
    16. Grant writing discussion yielded a need for a list to be created of potential grant writers. Cathy Frankenberg volunteered to research grant opportunities.
    17. Recognizing a need for management of fundraising, Amber Ott volunteers to handle fundraising ideas, and to participate in direct management of fundraising projects.
    18. Discussion of upcoming cooperative conference. Amber Ott will be in attendance. Please direct any questions you would like to have answered to her via amber (AT) bethlehemfood.coop. Major areas of interest are good and bad fundraising ideas, ideas for governance of fledgling cooperatives, and how to maintain active member involvement. Joe volunteers to post Conference information on facebook.
    19. Citing data retention concerns, Matty formally requests that all communication between Cooperative board members be performed using bethlehemfood.coop email addresses. The email addresses will be created by the next board meeting.
    20. Bob Noble has contacted the cooperative, and would like to form a field trip and mixer with the Bethlehem Food Cooperative, the Ambler Food Cooperative, and the Lancaster Cooperative sometime in April. This will be to observe recently formed cooperatives.
    21. Margarita Rivera has volunteered to translate our brochures into Spanish to help facilitate communication with all Bethlehem residents.
    22. Further discussed outreach on southside, specifically making contact with local churches and community centers. Also, we would like to participate in the Mayor’s South Side Task Force, and will contact Mr. Roger Hudack to add us to the roster. Finally, we will investigate purchasing a booth at both Gospelfest, and the Greenway’s Earth day event.
    23. Cathy Frankenberg, Colleen Marsh, and Javier will investigate a possible store location on south side by speaking with the owner. Joe Amedeo will investigate tax numbers and recent property appraisals which are publicly available.
    24. Motioned to adjourn the meeting. Approved.

    So, we did a lot this meeting! This is my first time posting the notes, so please let me know if this is too much, too little, or just about right. I hope to see you all at the March 4th meeting!

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  6. Meeting notes- February 2013

    February 19, 2013 by amber

     
    Potluck Serving- Thanks to everyone who brought something to share. Yum!
    Introductions & Icebreaker
    Bring-a-Friend February- We had some new faces at this meeting and we packed the meeting room with all of our excitement, energy, and ideas. Those who brought a new person received new Bethlehem Food Co-Op buttons and we had a goodie bag for the person that brought the most new folks!
    Board of Directors Report`
    • Incorporation- We are now legally incorporated!
    • MAFCA meeting- For more information on this upcoming event visit www.mafca.coop
    • Upcoming tour with Ambler and Lancaster area co-ops- The date of this “field trip” is to be determined but will be announced so that you can join if if interested.
    • Up & Coming, Up & Running Conference in March- Board member Amber Ott will be attending this event. If you would like, take a look at the draft agenda and let her know which workshops you think would be most productive. You can find the agenda here- http://www.icdc.coop/sites/default/files/ucur-draft-agenda-2013-jan10.pdf 
    • If you have any interest in running for the board, all members will have the opportunity to do so in October. More information will follow.
    • We have built an advisory committee that will help to advise the board if needed.

     

    Communications Report
    • Update on website- We will be transitioning our blog into an actual website in the coming weeks! Stay tuned.
    • Spanish language materials- We are working on printing our brochure in Spanish.
    • Andrew’s blog posts/Call for more blog posts- Big thanks to Andrew for his Sunday Supper series on the blog. We need more interested volunteers that would like to post blogs on topics related to the Co-op and community! Contact Colleen.

     

    Membership/Outreach Report
    • Molly’s- We had another meet- and- greet at the pub this month. It’s a nice way to come out and meet some of the members and talk about the Bethlehem Food Co-op for those unable to attend meetings.
    • Illicks Mill Potluck- The Outreach Committee was present at the Illicks Mill Potluck and gave a brief presentation on what we are all about. We will be participating in Earth Day on the Greenway on the SouthSide this April 20th.
    • Green Action Club meeting
    • FRESH screening- A screening of FRESH! and a potluck was held at SoBeCo Works.
    • Other upcoming events- We would like to get out and tell people about what we are building, and soon we will be gathering members! So far we have some ideas, but more are needed and welcome. Some ideas include First Fridays, Church events, and the South Side Film Festival. If you have any ideas or want to help, contact Heather.
    • Membership Structure- The Membership committee is working on a plan and will be releasing it at the next general meeting.

     

    Finance Report
    • Bank Balance
    • Financial Policy Progress- Research is being done.
    • Cookbook leadership- We have a cookbook fundraiser in the works but we need more recipes and volunteers. If there is anyone who would like to help or submit a recipe, we need you!
    • Insurance?- As of now, research is being done but it is not yet needed to proceed.
    • Corporate Bank Account?- A new bank account will be opened soon and we are researching credit unions and bank accounts alike to see where we fit best.

     

    Other Discussion-

    •   Fundraiser Ideas!!! Now is the time to start thinking about where we will get the money we need to open the store! If you have ANY ideas you would like to share, create, or implement please let us know! Some ideas passed around included a Tasting Spoon Competition, a Seedling Sale, and of course The Cookbook! If there are any great ideas in your head, contact Amber.
    • Grant Writing- We need folks willing to search and write grants. There is a lot of money out there for us, we just need to find it. If you or anyone you know would like to be involved in this process, please get in touch with Cathy here.

     

     

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  7. The Big Announcement

    December 21, 2012 by Colleen M

    We had a pretty small group at last night’s meeting, which was to be expected due to the hubub that is this time of year. Still, it was a great group, with three new folks joining us!

    Here are the notes from the meeting, including our announcement!

    General:

    • This was our last public meeting on north side. Many thanks to the UUCLV for their hospitality over the past year.
    • Our next meeting will be 1/7/13 at 7pm  in room 623 of the Fowler Family Center at 511 E. 3rd St. Bethlehem.

    Finance Report:

    • Finance committee did not meet last month due to scheduling conflicts.
    • Have drafted financial policies.
    • Working on the business plan.

    Membership/Outreach Report:

    • Hosted a successful mixer at Steelgaarden, with 4 new contacts joining us.
    • Participated in 2 Secret Art Space craft fairs, earning over $80.
    • Will be organizing volunteers for the Hispanic Center food pantry on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 1-3pm.
    • Will be tabling at Moravian Theological Seminary on 4/23 at “Sacred Scripture, Mother Earth.”
    • Stressed importance of volunteers honoring commitments.
    • Will be working on membership structure and member drive.

    Communications Report:

    • Putting together a winter newsletter
    • Communicating our transition to south side
    • Will be working on new website

    Steering Report (and the big announcement):

    • We’ve been given the go-ahead to incorporate by our consultant at KDC!!!
    • Andrew Bench, our legal representative, has confirmed that the law firm he works for will generously cover our filing fee!
    • We hope to be incorporated by the end of January.
    • We must have an official board to list on the articles of incorporation, so we will be appointing those who have committed from the current steering committee until we have official members to elect a board. Details and dates will be outlined in our bylaws and made public to all.
    • This means that 2013 will be a busy and important year! All cooperators should take their role as member-owners very seriously- This is YOUR store. Those who serve on committees will be expected to attend meetings and take on responsibilities towards getting our doors open. The Membership/Outreach Committee will be especially busy and in need of volunteers in the coming months. Contact Heather Manning to sign up.
    • We’ve also received draft financial projections from KDC and are in the process of running various models.

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  8. Meeting Notes-10/18/12

    October 24, 2012 by Colleen M

    7:00
    Welcome and Intros
    Welcome new faces and old! This month we did a food drive for New Bethany Ministries. Thanks to all who participated. We have decided to make this continual, so if you would like to bring any non-perishable items to upcoming meetings, please do!

    Can you believe we’ve been at it for a whole year?! We have decided to make our November meeting a celebration and pot-luck event. Over this last year, we have all worked very hard to make it where we are and it’s time to pat ourselves on the back and acknowledge all the progress we have made. This will also serve as a big THANK-YOU to all that have helped us get to this point. Please make it a point to come, bring some food, and let’s celebrate!

    7:15
    Steering Committee

    • We had entered a video into a contest for Good Magazine. While we did not win, we now have a great video to continue to share with the public about what a co-op means to us. Thanks to everyone who participated and voted.
    • Feasibility Study Update- We have been told that things are looking positive and optimistic, and that further information will be coming soon.
    • Focus Groups- In order to complete our feasibility study, there will be two focus groups being run by the Keystone Development Center on November 3rd. There will be a morning session for leadership and an afternoon session for general members of the co-op. If you are interested in participating, contact info@bethlehemfood.coop.
    • Moving Meetings?- We voted in favor of moving our meetings to the South Side in 2013 and changing the day of the week to reach out to a greater audience. We have been offered space in the NCC Fowler Center and we are waiting for confirmation on what times it will be available to us. A special thanks to Godfrey Daniels ,as well. They have offered up space for us to hold our committee meetings.

    730
    Outreach Committee

    • Harvest Fest was a great success! Our bake sale brought in $183 and we filled up quite a few sheets of emails. West Fest also allowed us to gather quite a few emails and spread the word. Thanks to our volunteers.
    • We will be at the hub of Moravian College celebrating National Food Day on October 24th. There are also lots of other community events out there to participate in to spread the good word.
    • The Bethlehem Halloween Parade is Sunday, October 28th at 2 pm. We will be assembling by 130 – location pending. Please come out and march with us! It’s a fun way to spread the word. We have made signs out of posterboard with inspiring food quotes, etc and have extras for you. If you want to sign up to help give us an idea of who is coming contact Heather.
    • We are continuing to do membership research to gather data about how we would like to structure our membership. If you are interested in emailing and calling other co-op’s to ask some basic questions, contact Heather at the above link.

    7:45
    Communications Committee

    • Our Newsletter, The Sprout, has been printed electronically and sent out! You should have received it if you are on our mailing list. This will be a seasonal newsletter providing information, recipes, member profiles, and more about the co-op.
    • We will be sending out thank-you letters to all the many community members and organizations that have helped us through the last year. These will also serve as an invite to our next meeting/pot-luck party in November.
    • More t-shirts and buttons will be ordered soon. We will also be taking pre-orders for hooded sweatshirts and long-sleeve t-shirts. We’ve managed to sell quite a few shirts, which is more validation that people support this wonderful idea! Check back for more info if you would like to pre-order a hoodie or email Amber .

    8:00
    Finance Committee

    • We’re edging closer and closer to incorporation. In the meantime, we have collected a grand total of $581 so far and we’re building to a point where we can actually kick off fundraising!
    • If anyone has any fundraising ideas, please share them with us. Raising the amount of money we will need isn’t going to be easy, but with the help of all of you- we can do this!
    • Policy research is being done while we wait on incorporation.

    8:15
    Buying Club?
    There has been much discussion about operating a Buying Club of some sort until we have our actual store. We discussed the idea in more detail and it’s still up in the air. The basic idea is to have an ordering deadline and a pick-up location that might operate weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. There are many advantages and several concerns regarding this idea. It would help us build relationships with our local farmers and with vendors while gaining eventual members. However, most of our regular volunteers are already quite busy with various committees, and this is going to take a time commitment. Research is being done to help give us a better idea of the feasibility of it. If you have any input, ideas, or would like to volunteer your time to this cause, get in touch with us! info@bethlehemfood.coop

    8:30
    We ended our October meeting by making signs to carry in the upcoming Halloween Parade!

    Thanks to all who came out. Don’t forget next month’s celebration and pot-luck party!

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  9. October Meeting Agenda

    October 17, 2012 by Colleen M

    It’s that time again! Tomorrow, October 18, we will hold a public meeting at 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley (424 Center St. Bethlehem, PA 18018).

    In recognition of National Food Day, we will be holding a food drive for New Bethany Ministries. Please bring fresh produce, canned, or boxed items to the meeting.

    We will also be making posters to carry in the Bethlehem Halloween Parade on 10/28. Ritter Pharmacy has kindly donated poster board, but please bring supplies like sticks/yard sticks/paint stirrers to use as handles, packaging tape, markers, etc..

    A couple of important topics will be discussed at this month’s meeting, including a vote on moving our meeting day & location and a conversation about the possibility of having a buying club in the interim until our storefront is open. Please come take part in these important discussions!

    Here’s a basic overview of the agenda:

    7:00 Welcome & Introductions
    7:10 Steering Committee
    7:20 Outreach Committee
    7:30 Communications Committee
    7:40 Finance Committee
    7:50 Buying Club Discussion
    8:30 Placard Party!

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  10. Meeting Notes- 9/20/12

    September 25, 2012 by amber

    7 pm- Welcome and Introductions/ Brief background of the co-op
    Welcome all new faces and old. It looks like some of our community outreach is paying off and we’re happy to see some new folks showing up to the meetings! Keep spreading the word and cooperating. Also, keep in mind all of the amazing progress we have made as we move along. You’re all wonderful!

    7:15- Steering Committee Report -

      • Progress with feasibility study-  The feasibility study has been closed. We received over 800 responses. Now we can begin to determine where money will most likely be spent and who is most likely to spend it. The preliminary feedback looks good and we have been told we can be “cautiously optimistic” as we proceed. Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out a feasibility study over the last few months.
      • City Council meeting- Members of our Steering Committee attended a City Council meeting earlier this month to discuss zoning issues that may directly affect the location of our co-op. The outcome is pending, but making your voice heard could be valuable.

    Next Steps:

     

      • Good Magazine contest – At our last meeting, we had each person hold a sign explaining why they want a food co-op in Bethlehem and what that would mean to the community and a photo was taken of each individual. We will be entering a video featuring these photos to Good Magazine Maker contest! Voting campaign begins 9/27. This could potentially give us $2500 to continue our outreach efforts and guide our membership drive.
      • Membership Drive – As we learn more about the outcome of our feasibility study, we will begin our membership drive. This will be discussed in more detail at the October public meeting.
      • We are considering moving our public meetings to the Southside. There will be a vote on this in the near future.

     

    Outreach and Membership

     

      • Change of leadership in Outreach Committee- Robin will be stepping down as Outreach Committee chair and Heather will be taking over.
      • We have been out there in the community and making great progress informing the public about the Bethlehem Food Co-op! VegFest was a big success and we filled many sheets with email addresses.
      • There are tons of upcoming events before the season shifts to winter. We should be incorporated in the coming months and able to begin our membership drive, so it’s essential to get out into the community and inform folks about what we’re growning! We need your help. The following list of events need volunteers. Contact Heather if you’re interested.

     

    Bethlehem Harvest Festival- Saturday 10/13/12 from 11am-8pm. A festival of the season and local food held on Main street. Volunteers needed at the table and for our bake sale. So, even if you can’t make it out, bake something! Seasonal baked goods are encouraged. Get in touch with Heather if you would like to contribute your baked items.

    WestFest- Saturday 10/20/12 from Noon-5 pm. West Bethlehem businesses have teamed up to have the first WestFest, promoting this side of town. it will be in the Rose Garden. It’s a highly residential area and there’s potential to inform folks who don’t yet know about what we’ve been up to. We need volunteers to work the booth.

    Food Day at Moravian College -Wednesday 10/24/12. There will be a Food Day celebration at the college. There are already volunteers to run the table, but if you’re a student or will be around- the more the merrier!

    Bethlehem Halloween Parade- Sunday 10/28/12. At the October public meeting, we will be painting signs to carry as we walk in the Halloween parade wearing our Co-op shirts and carrying our banner. Pack your pockets full of brochures and come walk with us! If you have any sign ideas or materials, please bring them to the next public meeting.

     

      • A co-op member has been reaching out to other co-op’s to obtain membership structure information. If anyone wants to make some phone calls/send some emails, get in touch.

    Communications

     

      • Website- One Rooff Media has donated a template to upgrade our website and that’s in the works.
      • Our seasonal newsletter, The Sprout is being drafted and edited. Look for an email shortly!
      • We have set up a Google Calendar to keep everyone up to date on events and happenings with the co-op.
      • Food Day is October 24th. We will be incorporating that into all the events this month! We will also be doing a food drive at the next meeting to help New Bethany Ministries.

    Finance

    •  We are close to incorporation. Once this happens, we can start raising money. Until then, working on fundraising ideas and discussing policies.

       

    Break-Out Session

      • We split into smaller groups and made lists of people we haven’t yet reached and ways to reach them. We had quite a list by the time we finished and are gearing up to kick off the membership drive.

    Next meeting – October 18th -

      • Sign-making party for the Halloween parade, also bring food for food drive for New Bethany Ministries as our contribution to Food Day.

    If you have any ideas or want to help in any way, get in touch with us! We need each and every one of you. See you soon.

     

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