Kona Coffee Farmers Association
Meeting Minutes:
Board of Directors Meeting, 4:10 PM March. 15, 2006
Location: CTAHR
Directors Present: Rick Funk, Nancy Griffith, Sandra Scarr, Joanie Rowe, Fred Housel, Mary Lou Moss
Directors Absent: Suzanne Shriner
Meeting Minutes of 3/6/2006 were reviewed and approved as amended.
Treasury Report: Current checking and savings balance is $1575. Treasurer's report accepted
Rick Funk reported KCFA booth at the Kona Brew Fest generated considerable traffic and much interest in the KCFA mission.
The KCFA booth at Pua Plantasia will be staffed by Kathy Wood, Sandra Scarr, Joanie Rowe and Mark Schultise. KCFA will be the only coffee booth at Pua Plantasia. Member donated Kona coffee will be available at the booth.
Joachim has received the KCFA brochures for the Natural Products Expo on March 25. KCFA will have a booth at the Chocolate Festival, also on March 25. . Joanie Rowe, Barbara Housel, Ginnie Comerford and Sandra will do the booth. Kona coffee will be served and available for sale.
The KCFA seals are on order and expected to be received in the week of March 20.
KCFA needs to be represented at the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival in November.
Sandra Scarr to follow up with Norm Sakata.
West Hawaii Today has requested an interview with KCFA representatives.. The interview is scheduled for 1:00 PM, Thursday, March 16. Rick Funk, Joanie Rowe, Joachim Oster, Namcy Griffith and Fred Housel will represent the Kona Coffee Farmers Association.
Committee reports:
Membership:
Three membership applications were received. All members need to enter their personal and farm data into the KCFA website database. Mark Schultise reported that online data entry is expected to be available by March 20. The Board decided to have members enter their data when the online database is available as compared to collecting hard copy applications to be entered manually.
Recruitment plan: Membership committee will come up with a recruitment plan/drive idea for 4/23/06 members meeting. Joanie will provide her "talking points" list to Nancy for input. Still Pending.
Discussion of the plan for voluntary or involuntary member contributions will be continued at next Board meeting. Rick presented a spreadsheet to allow “credits” for coffee contributions and contributed resources such as milling.
Legislative Committee:
Legislative has prepared four position statements for KCFA. Rick Funk distributed draft copies of the statements for Board review. Comments and feedback are to be sent to Bruce Corker so the statements can be finalized and released upon Bruce’s return. Two additional proposed position statements are in progress. The Promotions Committee will determine the process for dissemination of the approved position statements.
Promotions Committee:
KCFA banner has been acquired and was first deployed at the Kona Brewfest.
Fresh Cup magazine will publish a press release on the startup of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association.
Coffee Times is planning to publish an article on the Kona Coffee Farmers Association.
Grants:
Sandra reported that grant applications have to be submitted by March 31.
Education Committee:
Colehour presented a proposal for the 2006 Educational Workshops. Colehour asked for member feedback to assist the finalization of the plan. It was suggested to conduct a membership survey to determine training needs. Nancy Griffith will assist with the membership survey.
Colehour is also looking for additional volunteer help to conduct the training sessions. A suggestion was made for Colehour to contact Howard Conant regarding conducting joint training events with the KCC.
A suggestion was made to video tape all training events and build a library of training sessions to be available to KCFA members.
Estate Program:
Joanie expressed concern about what the KCFA definition of an Estate farm was. Does Estate mean one contiguous farm or can it include several properties with a single owner? The Board determined an Estate farm was a single growing area and multiple lots with a single owner would be separate estates. A question was raised regarding setting a minimum number of trees to be considered a coffee farm versus someone who has a few coffee trees in their backyard. Joanie will compose a proposal for the definition of Estate farm and requirements for further discussion.
Green bean certification and grading are also topics of discussion.
Fundraising Committee:
Mary Lou to call meeting to develop fund raising activities. Sandra, Fred and Ginnie volunteered to participate on the committee.
Website:
Mark Schultise reported that online data entry is expected to be available by March 20. Existing members will be able to update their member information and will be asked by Mark to do so as soon as the form is available.
Meeting adjourned 6:20 PM. Fred Housel KCFA Secretary
Next Meeting of Kona Coffee Farmers Association – Members Pot Luck Date: Sunday, April 23, 2006
Time: Meeting 1:00 PM Pot Luck 2:00 – 4:00 PM
Location: Old Kona Airport Beach, Kona
