Next Plenty Meeting Friday, 6/12/09 10am
Plenty Meeting 5/8/09 10AM
Agenda:
Flesh out plans for our April 12 official Plenty Launch
Discuss potential Plenty Party at the City Tap
Review draft articles of incorporation – Melissa
Website / Online Membership Directory
Bank Balance – who should the bank call when the account balance falls below $5k – Jennifer
On foot exchanging of old for new & selling new – Abundance
Membership solicitation – restrictions on local vs not., etc – Abundance
Confusion for people with old versus new especially as regards the ‘turtle’ – Abundance
Fundraising/Proof Sale – BJ
Attending:
BJ Lawson – President
Camille Armantrout – Secretary, Treasurer
Jaime Chandra – Vice President
Jennifer Benefield – Board Member
Lyle Estill – Board Member
Melissa Frey – Executive Director
Morgan Mihok- Interested party
Moya Hallstein – Board Member
Phil Lyons – Board Member
Actions:
Abundance Foundation to create a second account for operations
BJ to send out a revised Memorandum of Understanding between the Executive Director and the Board
Jaime will speak to Nicole, the framer about shipping framed Plenty proofs.
Minutes:
Relaunch – Jennifer said Capital Bank is ready for the May 12 relaunch at Capital Bank in Pittsboro. Angelina will cater, there’ll be food all day, Nicole, the framer is working on proofs, the press release went out. We decided to charge $150 for the complete set of framed proofs and $75 for the small set and to have the framer ship them to customers. We set up a schedule for individuals from the board to be at the bank during the relaunch. Emma Skurnick will sign the Plenty Proofs on the back of the frame at the bank.
Memberships – We now have 18 plenty coop members. The meeting at the General Store Cafe went well with about 8 business owners attending. Jaime noted that the online membership directory is not search able and has been doing research for a search able software that will also track when member dues are due. Bj will work with Jaime to find the right software.
We discussed the current by laws which state that board members must belong to the cooperative. Melissa said that with cooperatives, membership matters in the context of governance. We discussed a lower priced individual membership or a ‘friend of the PLENTY’ option for us in receiving donations. BJ suggested that we revise and redefine the membership rules in the by laws to include non-business owner memberships which could serve on the board.
Incorporation – Melissa said that since we plan to incorporate as a cooperative, not a non-profit, we will retain the Abundance Foundation as fiscal sponsor for donations. However, after incorporation, the Plenty Currency Cooperative will handle all memberships and expenses. BJ moved that we try to recruit Kathie Russell as pro bono lawyer to help Melissa incorporate. Jaime seconded this and all voted in favor. [Update - Kathie has agreed]
Plenty Account at Capital Bank – Jennifer wanted to know who to contact when the bank balance fell below $5,000 and it was decided that she should contact Melissa. We discussed putting the name of the bank on the next printing of currency and also discussed expanding the Plenty to the Raleigh/Durham area. We discussed opening an second account for the Plenty. The first account would serve as a Backstop Account and the second account as an Operating Account.