January 27, 2019 Annual General Membership Meeting Minutes
Call to order -12:30 pm by Suzanne Shriner, President
- Approval of the 2018 AGM minutes. Cea Smith moves to accept and Kay Dixon second. Motion carries
- Brief review of 2018 by Suanne Shriner including:
Crop- Values are generally high. Most farmers reported less cherry from previous years. The volcano vog and dry conditions in some areas may be contributing factors
Newsletter- Claire Wilson writes the news letter and a big Mahalo to her. If anyone has a recipe or article they would like to see included please send it to her.
Expo - This year it is March 30. Last year we had several grants that’s let KCFA expand our advertising
Slow Foods- KCFA had a booth in Denver at the Slow Foods Nation festival. Approximately 20,000 people attended and many people got to taste Kona coffee and learn why 10% blend is not the taste of Kona coffee
Workshops- KCFA provided several workshops including pruning and roasting
Legislative program. KCFA was very active in working with candidates and in promoting possible legislation
Other- Included a fall social for members, participation in the Kona coffee and art stroll, and discussion of a future mentoring program for new farmers.
- Reports
Financial- Jim Monk provided the financial report. He said it has been an interesting year for KCFA and thanked Jenine Boido, our Accountant, who keeps our books.
As of December 31st, total assets were a bit over $57,000, and KCFA can pay all our bills. Total assets went down a bit more than three thousand dollars in the past year. This is the deliberate result of your Association continuing to fund those programs that support the purpose and mission of the KCFA, in spite of income being less than expenses.
On the income side, our membership dues were a solid $6,500. Thanks to everyone for that! Our merchandise sales brought in a net $5,700. We also received over $10,000 in grant money to cover a number of our expenses. Total net income was over $25,000.
But this past calendar year we had expenses of a bit over $28,000. Our largest single bill in the year was to pay for the event coordinator who ran our Coffee Expo – and that was covered by the County grant. Overall, our largest expense category was our annual Coffee Expo – which is coming up again at the end of March – plan to attend! We also provided funds for our members to attend a Slow Food Expo in Denver and to travel to Honolulu for the Made in Hawaii show. One of our continuing expenses is renting a storage locker to keep our inventory of merchandise and meeting supplies. The bottom line was a loss for the calendar year of about $2,600. But we are doing OK. We are doing our mission and keeping you represented.
Cea Smith made motion to accept and Colehour Bondera second. Motion carried.
Legislative Legislative—Bruce Corker described 2 bills introduced by Rep. Richard Creagan at KCFA request—and for which members are encouraged to send supporting written testimony through the Legislature’s website. One (HB144) is for a 51% blend minimum and required disclosure of the origin of imported coffee in blends. The second (HB143) would require ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee products to meet the same disclosure requirements as roasted and instant coffee.
Expo Karen Zulkowski presented a review of last years expo and our plan for this year. This is the first time expo will be on a Saturday. She asks for volunteers and to come to Old A’s between 0-3 on March 30 and to have fun. Please contact her to help out ([email protected]). The roasting workshop will be Friday March 29 at Hala Tree Farm.
- Vote on by laws amendment. People spoke for and against the amendment to allow KCFA to send a representative to the board of other organizations. Concerns including taking over KCFA, and pros were learning about other organizations. 17 votes for the amendment and 15 against. Amendment change passed.
- Election of Board-Returning board- Chet Gardiner, Jim Monk and Cea Smith. New- Tom Lawson, Tari Sparks, Arturo Ballar, Jeanne Kapela, and Jean Orlowski. Nomination from floor- Sandra Scarr.
Bruce Corker askes for acclamation vote. Second Kay Dixon. All are elected to board of directors of KCFA
Post meeting election of officers for 2019
President Suzanne Shriner
Vice President Cea Smith
Secretary Karen Zulkowski
Treasurer Jim Monk
