Apple Valley HR Association

Board Meeting – December 7, 2004

Mission Street Bistro, Wenatchee WA 98801

Present:

Arlene Abbott Joan Lovitt Janice Soder Gil Sparks

Karen Bland Jo Ann Tucker Sylvia Martinez Barbara Davis

Ruth Williams Lynn Bourton Melissa Wear-Grimm

I. Welcome / Call to Order

President Arlene Abbott called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.

II. Review and Approval of the November Minutes

Karen Bland reported that there were a few grammatical corrections, but no major changes to report. President Abbott thanked Karen for a good job in keeping the minutes. There were no other changes or corrections noted. All present accepted the minutes as written.

III. Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Horey was unable to attend the meeting. President Abbott reviewed the Account Balances Report, Register Report, and income/expenses for “The Disney Way” seminar.

IV. Scholarships

President Abbott advised she received an application from one person who was interested in the academic scholarship, and no one who was interested in the certification scholarship. Prior to today’s meeting, she shared the academic scholarship application with the Scholarship Committee (Joan Lovitt, Karen Bland and herself). All were in agreement that we should present the academic scholarship to Kristen Cheatley of Ellensburg. Karen will draft a letter to Ms. Cheatley and forward to President Abbott for review prior to mailing. A check in the amount of $750 will be mailed to Central Washington University to be held in the student account of Kristen Cheatley.

V. Programs

November – The Disney Way seminar. President Abbott commented she felt that Rich Hamilton made a wonderful presentation and it was a great success. Other comments were that the Center did a great job, as well as the write-up in the Business Journal.

December – Silent Auction. If you have anything to donate, or know of someone who would like to donate, please contact Joy Neal.

January 2005 – Rene Zamora will do a presentation on “Simple and Effective Planning”. Program will begin at noon.

Programs – continued

Discussion on SHRM speakers. Melissa advised that SHRM is interested in funding smaller chapters to assist with speakers (i.e., fees and/or travel costs). She advised SHRM is looking to set aside $75,000 in this fund. She will forward information to JoAnn Tucker.

VI. 2005 AVHRA Goals

Co-President Elect Gil Sparks emailed a draft of the 2005 AVHRA goals to all of the 2005 board members prior to this meeting. He requested that the board review and make comments by the end of this week. Gil said that he and Co-President Elect Barbara Davis feel the goals are realistic and achievable. They want the board involved in the goals and would like to adopt them as soon as possible. If anyone has something they would like to add to the goals, please speak with Gil or Barbara.

Joy Neal was not able to attend this meeting, however, she sent an email with her comments: She was at the State Council meeting on Friday and after the discussion of Council goals, she remembered that the last two items on AVHRA’s goals (sponsor an ATP activity, and sponsor a STP activity) already fell into ATP and STP, so those lines items are not needed. She also mentioned that we might want to put the note of ATP and STP behind the goals to help see where they fall, but that we have a really good mix of both.

Gil also advised Barbara and he may like to call a special board meeting prior to January 2005 in order to finalize the 2005 goals and formally adopt them.

VII. Job Fair 2005

Lisa Turner, School-to-Work Chair, will be the AVHRA member sitting on this committee. The first meeting was held on December 3, 2004. As Lisa was not able to attend today’s meeting – she e-mailed her comments:

She attended the first planning meeting, and AVHRA has an opportunity to meet one of the “ALL” goals:

a. Article to be submitted for the program, printed in the Wenatchee World.

b. Speaker for one of the workshops – focus will be on the “job track” seminars and discontinue the “career track” seminars (not well attended).

c. A page in the AVHRA newsletter (February or March) promoting the Job Fair – scheduled for April 12, 2005.

d. Assist with the volunteer list, recruiting people and/or volunteering yourself.

Lisa advised the next planning meeting is scheduled for January 7^th. If anyone is interested in any of the above items, or has an opinion, please contact her.

VIII. Other

SHRM Conference

Melissa Wear-Grimm reported that she attended the national SHRM conference in Washington D.C. on November 18^th – 20^th. She shared that it was very enlightening and motivating, that they are very knowledgeable of all facets of HR and resources, and they are a very in-depth organization. She met some HR professionals from Idaho and Oregon, who she feels will make great resources. Melissa also spoke briefly about SHRM increasing the award dollars to chapters, and that SHRM is in the process of revamping its website and putting together a user’s guide to the website.

HR Video

President Abbott gave Barbara a video she received from SHRM entitled “HR in Alignment”.

2005 Program Slots

Gil Sparks shared that there are tentative program slots to fill. General discussion around what we would like to see in these slots. Several suggestions were made: panel discussion with panel made up of AVHRA members, possibly have Sandra Smeller give a presentation, legislative program (Steve Bobst), health care/AED’s, ethics, etc. Try to involve higher-level decision-makers, not just HR professionals. President Abbott advised she is working with Kimberly Geariaty on developing an ethics program for the PUD. We may want to use part of her program.

Gil advised he would like to see all of the programs on the website, and listed in the AVHRA newsletter.

Monthly Meeting Rates

Gil requested a motion to increase the member rate for monthly meetings to $15 (currently $10 member and $20 non-member) beginning in January 2005. Discussion followed. Joan Lovitt moved to adjust the monthly luncheon rate up to $15 per member. JoAnn Tucker seconded. Motion passed.

Ruth Williams requested articles for the newsletter.

Website

Gil stated that AVHRA has been graced with having Eric West updating our website. He suggested that we might want to send Eric a stipend for all the work he has done for us. Discussion followed. Janice Soder moved that Eric West be given a stipend of $150 for his valuable work updating the AVHRA website. Arlene Abbott seconded. Motion passed.

Board Meeting Day/Time

Gil brought up discussion of board meeting days and times. He suggested we change the board meetings from 4:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month to 7:00 a.m. on a day that would suit everyone’s schedules. Discussion followed. It was decided to hold the board meetings on the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 a.m. Location to be announced.

Community Relations Position

Gil suggested we create a Community Relations board position. Discussion on this was tabled until the next board meeting.

Talk to Your Co-Worker Friday!

It was shared that some organizations are having a “Talk to Your Co-Worker Friday” – which means no e-mail! This special day was created by none other than “MICROSOFT”!

AVHRA Silent Auction

Please let Joy Neal know if you are donating something to the Silent Auction, or if you know of someone who is donating.

Closing Toast

President Abbott toasted the 2004 AVHRA board!

Thank you!

At the end of the meeting, the board members thanked President Abbott for the tremendous job she did as 2004 president!

IX. Adjournment/Next Meeting

The meeting adjourned at 5:10pm. The next Board meeting is scheduled for 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 13, 2005; however, Gil Sparks reminded the group that Barbara and he may request a special board meeting prior to the January 2005 regular board meeting.

Minutes taken and submitted by: Reviewed by:


Karen Bland	President Arlene Abbott	Date
Secretary	President