board meeting minutes 

Regular Board Meeting Minutes

16 June 2026

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

Regrets:Cathy-Ann Glockner

Members Present: Laureen Barker, Simon Ennis, Jill Zinzer, Todd Johnston

Staff Present: Sean Silverson (Finance Director, IGM), Amanda Verigin (Operations Director, IGM), Brooke Whitman-Roberts (Wellness Manager), Kristina Hus (Wellness Category Manager)

Chair: Kay Coburn

Recorder: Sadie Yancey (Board Administrative Assistant)

Meeting brought to order at 5:02 pm in the Teaching Kitchen

Adoption of June Meeting Agenda:  M/Paul S/Kendal,  no amendments. All in favour.

Declaration of Interests: none

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

It was noted that the board self-evaluation will not be conducted this month 

Approval of consent agenda, including: 

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

M/Kendal  S/Mike

CARRIED. All in favour.

Between meetings, the member-elected directors of the board approved by email the following motion on June 3 2026:

MOTION That Amanda Verigin be appointed Co-Interim General Manager from June 8 until August 31 2026
M/ Paul S/ Cathy-Ann
During this time, Sean Silverson will maintain his role as Co-Interim General Manager
CARRIED. All in favour

Business Arising

1. Introductions. Meeting participants introduced themselves.
2. Manager of the Month – Brooke Whitman-Roberts (Wellness Manager) and Kristina Hus (Wellness Category Manager)
   1. Brooke and Kristina shared with the board information about the Wellness Department – an overview of the changes to staffing, trendy products, and changes to regulation in natural health products.
   2. Brooke and Kristina responded to questions from directors. 

5:30 pm Brooke and Kristina left

3. Review member feedback. The BAA summarized the member feedback linked to the agenda. There were concerns this month about case lot pricing, patronage calculation, and a request to appeal a ban for theft. 
4. Creston Valley Food Hub Donation.  Amanda shared with the board the work of the Food Hub in Creston to support local agriculture by providing a commissary kitchen, food processing equipment to make value-add products, and storage. The Co-op will donate $10k to support the associated non-profit’s purchase of their land and building so that they can better leverage grants and continue to strengthen food security in the region.
5. AI considerations for Boards.  Kay presented to the board a presentation on the concerns associated with AI that the board must be aware of. 
6. Columinate Board Training review. The board discussed their experience with the first of four trainings offered by Columinate.  There was general agreement that it was worth the investment in time and cost. ACTION Kay will collect directors thoughts for the later sessions ACTION Sadie begin scheduling of 3rd and 4th sessions
7. CCMA Videos. The BAA shared the video recordings from the 2026 Conference of the Consumer Cooperative Management Association have been purchased and will be shared with directors and staff when they are ready. The Board Development Committee will consider how to make the most of these without being a burden on directors.

IGM Report – Presented by Sean Silverson and Amanda Verigin

8. Sean shared the highlights from the May financials, as circulated.  Compared to May 2025, May 2026 sales increased 1.3% – one of the lowest increases in recent years.  Sean shared the potential reasons for this decrease.
9. Inventory.  The annual inventory was conducted May 31st.  The store was closed and 80 staff counted with digital tools.
10. Amanda requested the Member Engagement Committee communicate to marketing about how many directors will support the Co-op’s birthday party on June 26th. 
11. Questions from member attendees
    1. A member shared that it was amazing to see how cooperative this cooperative board is! Affirmed that it’s great for the whole board to participate in training. 
    2. A member asked for clarification on Amanda’s role. Amanda was recently appointed as co-IGM, along with Sean, and the team hopes she will transition to GM in September. 
    3. A member asked about the decline in bulk sales, especially considering economic pressures. Staff shared their theories on why bulk has been declining in sales and strategies to correct. 
    4. Could the decline in bulk be due to people putting wrong numbers on bags? That does happen, especially when a similar looking product is cheaper, but that does not account for the decline in sales. 
    5. What was the gap that led to [the Columinate] training? The board conducts a gap analysis each year and identifies training needs. Amanda participated in a training in preparation to become GM, and the board thought it beneficial to have complementary training on how to support a GM. 

Next Meetings:

no July board meeting.  Finance, HR, Board Development will meet, and there may be additional trainings scheduled

August 18th – 4:30pm on Zoom

September 15th – 5pm in person

September 24th – AGM!

The meeting adjourned to in camera session at 6:15pm