Riverwest Co-op Finance Meeting 3/3/12

Present: Gibson, Shelly, Lisa, Mia, Clare

Fundraising – Finance has been asked for a fundraising amount.  Concerns raised about going to the membership to request funds for something that we have already paid for – we should try to avoid tapping their goodwill and money until we really need it (as we will in the relatively near future as we look at roof repairs and/or expansion).  Finance recommends waiting to plan a Fundraising campaign for specific impending expenses, rather than using it to pay for the cooler, which has already been paid for from savings.

How much has the co-op brought in from fundraisers throughout the year (spaghetti dinner, events, etc)?  Finance requests a report from the Communications Committee of fundraiser income over the past year so we can have a better idea of how much we are currently bringing in from fundraising.

Merchandising position – Finance has been asked to weigh on on whether this position can be moved from hourly and 30 hours/week to salaried and 40 hours/week.  All coordinator positions are salaried, and this position was originally intended to be salaried.  The current merchandising manager is already working over 40 hours/ week regularly.  Finance approves shifting this position to salaried full-time.

Raises – Finance has been asked to weigh in on whether the co-op is in a stable enough position to continue giving annual raises (25 cents every 6 months).  It is agreed that this is not a good place for the co-op to try to economize, as these raises have a much bigger positive impact for the workers than they do an impact on the co-op.  Finance recommends that the co-op continue giving raises as scheduled. 

Reserves – Finance has been asked to report on our reserve accounts.  The co-op has 2 checking acounts – one for paying bills and one that is used as savings, as well as the required credit union savings account containing only $5.00.  In most months, $2,000 is transferred into the second checking account to add to the Reserves.  Current account balances: Checking 1 = $18,423.17  Checking 2 (Reserves) = $22,346.15

WMSE Underwriting – Possibility of having an underwriting spot on WMSE has been raised.  This would be split between the Riverwest Public House and the Riverwest Co-op and Cafe.  The spots would get 15 plays on air through the week, and could be changed as often as weekly if desired.  Available for 3 months at $100/week, or 1 year at $75/week.  These costs would be split between the 2 co-ops.  Dori gave us the option to start with 3 months, then if we want to continue, we can prorate the costs for the rest of the year so we effectively pay only the annual rate.  Finance approves the expense of trying this for 3 months, and will send this on to Communications Committee for final decision.