board meeting minutes 

Regular Board Meeting Minutes

20 January 2026

Present:   Kay Coburn, Cathy-Ann Glockner, Paul Cowan, Kate Miers, Leannah Fidler, Kendal Benesh, James Hiebert, Mike Morrison

Staff Present: Ashley Elliott (HR Director, IGM), Sean Silverson (Finance Director, IGM), Amanda Verigin (Marketing Director), Dirk Gibbs (Store Manager)

Chair: Kay Coburn

Recorder: Sadie Yancey (Board Administrative Assistant)

Meeting brought to order at 4:32 pm on Zoom

Adoption of January Meeting Agenda:  M/Kendal  S/Cathy-Ann,  one addition. All in favour.

Declaration of Interests: none

Approval of December Meeting Minutes:  M/Leannah S/Kendal, no amendments. All in favour.

Approval of consent agenda, including: 

• Governance Committee minutes 
• Board Development Committee minutes
• Finance Committee minutes
• Member Engagement Committee minutes
• HR Committee minutes

M/Paul S/Cathy-Ann

It was noted that a board election only happens when there are more candidates than available seats. 

CARRIED. All in favour.

Business Arising

1. Manager of the Month – Dirk Gibbs, Store Manager
   1. Dirk shared with the board information about category management and presented several recent examples.  Dirk responded to questions from directors. 

4:44pm Mike arrived

4:50pm Dirk left 

2. Review member feedback. There was no new member feedback to the board.
3. Interim General Manager job description approval.  The HR Committee proposed to replace the current IGM Job Description with a more detailed version. In response to questions it was noted that
   1.  An IGM has reviewed the draft. 
   2. The GM job description needs to be reviewed, and this will be done later in the year.
   3. There is not a substantial difference between the IGM and GM Job Descriptions. The main difference is the IGM includes instructions for how the Board is to set priorities and scope when based on the context and timing of the IGM’s term.

MOTION To approve the IGM job description, as circulated

M/ Kate S/Paul

CARRIED All in favour

4. Reminder: CCMA Call for proposals
   1. As circulated by email, the annual conference for cooperative grocery stores will be May 28-30th, the Call for Proposals is open and interested directors were invited to contact Kay. 
   2. No current directors have attended live, but several have participated virtually. One director expressed interest in attending, and an IGM expressed concern about travelling to the US. 
5. Strategic Plan Review
   1. The chair shared information to prepare for the board’s strategic planning session on Saturday. 
6. Prepare for Gap Analysis
   1. A director alerted the board to the process for the 2026 gap analysis, to help determine the gap between the board’s needs and the directors’ skills and experience. 

IGM Report – Presented by Sean Silverson and Ashley Elliott

7. Sean shared the highlights from the December financials, as circulated. Sales growth and net income have slowed since the fall, with December sales approximately 5% above the same month last year.
8. Sean shared the highlights from the liquidity statement. 
9. Questions from member attendees – There are no non-board members in attendance.

Next Meetings:

Saturday Jan 24th – 9am-12:30

Feb 17th 5pm in person (dinner 4:30)

March 17 – 4:30pm on Zoom

The meeting adjourned to in camera session at 5:11pm