June Board Update

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June Board Update

  • written by Maggie Jones, Board Member

Thank you for reading our Board Update, a synopsis of our most recent board meeting and other board-related information.

Your board is responsible for overseeing our General Manager (GM), ensuring financial viability, providing governance that is in line with the BC Coops Act and making strategic decisions that benefit our Co-op. We have five board committees that meet monthly and then share reports and recommendations to the board as a whole. These committees are: HR/Hiring, Governance, Finance, Member Engagement, and Nominations. We also hear reports monthly from our GM and one department manager.

June 2023

Your board met on June 16th, 2023.

Business Arising:

  • The board was happy to host two of our 2023 board nominees, attending as observers.
  • We reviewed member feedback and approved the May board update for publication.
  • We welcomed Tory Berger, our HR manager, and she provided the board with an update on the HR department. HR is working on catching up on many projects that were delayed by Covid, including new training initiatives for all staff.  We were pleased to learn about the new microlearning platform that HR will be implementing over the next few months. We are very grateful to Tory and the entire HR department for all of their hard work and dedication to giving our staff the best training available.Thank you all.
  • AGM Update – Our 2023 Co-op AGM will be held on Wednesday, September 27th,  and it will be a hybrid meeting, with the Member Engagement Committee overseeing the event production.
  • Jon Restakis, a world renowned co-op expert, would like to do a case study of the Kootenay Co-op. Two of our board members met with him and they were very impressed with his work. The board agreed to participate in this project.

Our IGMs made their report to the board:

  • Staff are getting ready to celebrate our 48th birthday. Store events planned.
  • There has been a reduction in street activity as Interior Health has moved the services formerly provided on Vernon street to another location. We greatly appreciate the compassion with which our IGMs have responded to these issues and we are proud that our Co-op continues to support groups in the city that provide food and shelter for people in need.

Committee Reports:

  • Governance Committee–Wendy reported that they discussed Robert’s Rules of Order and have also started planning for the next strategic planning session in August.
  • Nominations Committee–Maggie shared that nominations are now closed and that we have six nominees for three seats. A director commended the committee for a good job done on recruitment.
  • Finance Committee and HR Committee reports were shared in camera due to confidential information being shared.

Questions from our observing members:

  • “Do we have references for Jon Restakis?”  Yes, and he has provided electronic copies of his books. He has worked with co-ops all over the world. He helps people set up non-profits, is the former ED of the BC Co-op Association and is filled with passion.
  • One member wanted the board to know how impressed they were with how deeply the board cares for our co-op.

See you next time!

 

Maggie Jones
Vice President