Kona Coffee Farmers Association
Monthly Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
January 16, 2008, CTAHR Conference Room, Kainaliu
Board of Directors Meeting Called to Order by President – 4:04 pm
Introduce New Members and Guests
Jamaica Corker was visiting her parents, Lisa and Bruce Corker, attending the meeting, and picking coffee on their farm. Welcome Jamaica!
Board Members Present
Bruce Corker - President, Suzanne Kustusch - Secretary, Deb Sims - Treasurer, Joanie Rowe, Colehour Bondera, Nancy Griffith, Mary Lou Moss and Kathy Wood. John McClure - Vice President, Sandra Scarr and Sandy Masterson absent with apologies.
Review Minutes of September and November 2007 and Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting January 11, 2008
Mary Lou Moss moved to approve all Minutes as written, Colehour Bondera seconded. 8 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried, Minutes approved
Treasurers Report
Treasurers Report will wait to be approved until Treasurer has time to discuss it with past Treasurer and will deliver report next month. She reports that the bank balance is approximately $19,000.00 and KCFA shows income of approximately $4,000 since the last report.
Thank you Past President Ken Sheppard
Bruce thanked Ken for leading KCFA in 2007 when we became a credible organization both with members and the State Legislature. Everyone present expressed their thanks as well and Bruce gave Ken a small gift of appreciation. Ken said everyone helped but thank you for the gift!
Committee Reports:
Elections/Introduction of New Board Members: Colehour Bondera
Colehour thanked all those members that made the election run smoothly.
He reported that at the Annual Meeting the by laws requiring members to decide the number of Board of Directors were reviewed and he proposed that the Board be increased to 11 members. It was seconded and voted nearly unanimously in support of 11 BOD members for 2008.Colehour Bondera then introduced the existing Board Members and the Candidates on the ballot for the 2008 KCFA Board of Directors. Existing Board Members: Bruce Corker, John McClure, Sandra Scarr, Suzanne Kustusch and Colehour Bondera. Candidates up for re-election: Mary Lou Moss, Nancy Griffith and Joanie Rowe. New Candidates: Deb Sims, Sandy Masterson and Kathy Wood. Colehour asked for Floor Nominations. There were none. The six candidates on the ballot could now be elected by Acclamation. Congratulations were expressed to all.
Colehour thanked Ken Sheppard for asking him (Colehour) to lead the election process and for keeping the meeting moving along. He also thanked Mary Lou Moss and Bruce Corker for helping him along the way.
Education Committee Report: Chairperson John McClure
Ken Sheppard gave a brief report highlighting the mini educational workshops at the EXPO and announced a Pruning Workshop at Henry Williams’s farm, given by Bob Smith, on January 26th. Registration is at 8:30am and the workshop begins at 9:00am. An email will be sent out to members and a notice will be put in WHT.
Fund Raising Committee Report: Chairperson Mary Lou Moss
Chairperson reports three upcoming events: Brew Fest March 8, Pua Plantasia March 15 and Aloha Hawaiian Nights March 29. Tentative date for Kona Coffee Fair at Lanihau is the end of June/July 4th. Carol Moore wants to combine our event with Lanihau anniversary so there would be entertainment and other activities. Mary Lou is looking for volunteers for all events.
The Board authorized the Committee to develop a system for farmers to sell their own coffee at certain events. They will work out the details and report to the Board next month.
Chairperson will try to get five farmers per month to each donate 10lbs of green coffee for sale on Alii. That would produce over $700.00 per month for KCFA. She sent around a sign-up sheet and will contact members by phone.
Logo merchandize inventory is low. Mary Lou Moss made a motion to increase inventory by three dozen shirts on coffee dyed T-shirts, women’s tanks and to add men’s tanks for an approximate cost of $650.00. Colehour Bondera seconded. 8 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried.
Membership Committee Report: Chairperson Joanie Rowe
Chairperson reports 142 members, 29 are new and 9 are Associate members. In addition she is contacting by email a number of last year's members who have not yet renewed to remind them to renew membership and will follow up with letters and phone calls. 25 of the new members have met the criteria for membership so far. Joanie Rowe moved to approve these 25 members and Mary Lou Moss seconded. 8 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried.
Grants Committee Report: Chairperson Sandra Scarr
Bruce Corker made a motion, on Sandra Scarr’s behalf, to approve purchasing the Trade Show booth display. Suzanne Kustusch seconded. 8 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried.
The DVD’s are available. An email will be sent to members encouraging them to purchase them for themselves and their customers.
Legislative Committee Report: Chairperson Bruce Corker
Chairperson reports that tonight, January 17 at 5:30 at Konawaena School, Neil Reimer of the Hawaii Dept of Agriculture will talk about invasive species and other agricultural issues. Nancy Griffith will attend to bring up our truth-in-labeling bills and to bring up green coffee imports as a possible means of invasive species entering the State. Others were encouraged to attend as well.
Thursday, January 24th, 8:30 am, at the County Council Offices in Kailua-Kona there will be an opportunity to give video testimony to the County Council meeting [the meeting is in Hilo] concerning two resolutions for moratoriums on planting GMO Taro and GMO coffee. Members were encouraged to attend to testify in support of these important Resolutions that were introduced by Angel Pilago.
The Petition ON Line still works and has 1,797 signatures. Bruce asked members to sign if they haven't already done so, and to ask their coffee customers to sign the petition. Secretary will send out email to members, encouraging them to have their customers sign. She will also set up her laptop at her coffee shop in Alii Gardens to allow her customers there to sign the petition while they are in the shop.
Bruce reported that today is the opening day of the Legislative Session. The Committee’s objective is to get hearings on both the House and Senate bills which were held over from 2007. Bruce has sent letters to the Big Island Legislators asking for their public support for committee hearings on the bills. Bruce made a motion to put a series of four consecutive daily ads for up to four weeks [if necessary] into WHT asking Big Island Legislators to support committee hearings and reporting to readers which Legislators have responded favorably to this request and which have not. The total cost for all the ads would be approximately $4,100.00. Motion to do so was approved, 8 ayes, 0 nays. The first set of four ads will be placed on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the week of January 21.
Promotions Committee Report: Chairperson Cea Smith
Chairperson reported that we need to reorder Bumper Stickers at a cost of $550.00 for 1,000 stickers. Colehour Bondera moved to purchased 1,000 Bumper Stickers at this cost. Joanie Rowe seconded. 8 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried.
Chairperson brought up idea for new KCFA T-shirt, bumper sticker image on brown shirt and small KCFA logo on back. Idea was well received. She will look into cost and report back next month.
Chairperson reported that classified ad in WHT costs $98.00 per month. Committee will review ad and report back next month.
Estate Committee Report: Chairperson Joanie Rowe
Chairperson reports one new Estate in progress, the Prater farm, and she will contact new members to ask if anyone wishes to be evaluated for Estate status.
PR Committee Report:
Chairperson not present, no report given.
Website Committee Report: Mark Shultise
Chairperson not present. No report given this month.
Old Business:
None at this time.
New Business:
President reminded Board and Members that the Committee Chair positions are appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer). He will contact the members to ask who is interested in the positions and will discuss the results with the Executive Committee. He will report new Committee Chairs next month.
Each month a different member will be asked to volunteer to provide coffee for the Board Meeting. Suzanne Kustusch volunteered for next month.
Meeting Adjourned at 5:10 pm
Next Board of Directors Meeting:
February 20, 2008 at CTAHR Conference Room, Kainaliu, at 4:00pm.
Addendum to Board Meeting Minutes
Following are the Committee Reports for December as the December Board Meeting was cancelled:
Education Committee Report: Chairpersons John McClure
Chairperson reports nothing new. He still plans to offer a program of colloquial farm visits for general discussion and information. John reported that he is presently too busy to put out the notice and to handle the work of organizing responses. He will ask Secretary to post when he is ready.
Fund Raising Committee Report: Chairperson Mary Lou Moss
Chairperson reports planning for upcoming Kona Coffee EXPO Trade Show. Looking for volunteers to handle set up and clean up and greeting attendees.
PR Committee Report: Chairperson Christine Sheppard
Chairperson sent out December Newsletter to members, politicians and Press. She wrote to Starbucks to create contact for publicity on their new name for Kona Blend when it is ready. She produced a Mahalo Ad for auction donors which was published in WHT. Our winner Parade entry was featured in WHT with a photo and description. She was interviewed by Big Island Weekly on the HCC Resolution; article was published on December 5th. Christine also contacted numerous potential vendors for the EXPO, report given to Mary Lou.
Promotions Committee Report: Chairperson Cea Smith
Nothing new to report this month.
Website Committee Report: Mark Shultise
Chairperson reports no problems with website.
Grants Committee Report: Chairperson Sandra Scarr
The DVD has arrived and Sandra reports that it is excellent. No news on the 2008 application, but she does not expect to hear anything until late December.
Estate Committee Report: Chairperson Joanie Rowe
Chairperson off island. No report given.
Membership Committee Report: Chairperson Joanie Rowe
Chairperson off island. No report given.
Legislative Committee Report: Chairperson Bruce Corker
1) Truth-in-Labeling Bills: The legislative committee is following up on KCFA’s success in adoption of Hawaii County Council Resolution No. 417-07 (requesting the State legislature to enact truth-in-labeling for Kona coffee) with efforts to generate support for HB 72 and SB 661, pending in the upcoming legislative session. The 08 session will open in mid-January. Among the results of these efforts, County Council Chair Pete Hoffmann has stated that in light of Resolution No. 417-07 he believes HB 72 and SB 661 are appropriate for support from the County’s soon-to-be-hired legislative lobbyist.
2) Requests to discontinue Kona Blends: The legislative committee has made, and followed up on, written requests to three prominent purveyors of coffee that they discontinue marketing “10% Kona blends”. We have indications that one of the three is currently giving serious consideration to KCFA’s request.
Respectfully submitted,
Suzanne Kustusch
KCFA Secretary 2008
