SCBA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING -Virtual                                   OCTOBER 2, 2020

Attendees:

Chuck Marion – Lakeland

Rosalind Severt – Midstate Director

Glenn Severt –  Interim President-Elect

Jim Strohm – Charleston; acting as proxy for Nancy Simpson – CABA

Wendy Gray – Treasurer

Danny Canon – President

David MacFawn – Program Committee

David Yannello – Pee Dee

John Williams – York

John Gardner – York

Karry Edmonds – Spartanburg

Susan Jones – MBP Director

Ben Powell – Clemson Apiculturist

Wes Bommer – Prison (joined at very end; thought meeting was at noon)

Mark Foster – Midstate

Ramon Frans – Sumter

Welcome – Danny Canon opened meeting 10 am

Bylaws Revision – Committee Chair: Rosalind Update

Bylaws Committee consists of members from last meeting. Of those who attended last Executive Committee meeting, only 7-8 members have responded with comments.

Next step, Danny needs to review, then present to Executive Committee for approval.

Question from Jim S about definition of quorum – being everyone present

Question from Wendy about clarifying duties of the past president – currently bylaws do not specify job, but does designate as an officer

Danny – job descriptions are basically handed down or taken from bylaws. No operating procedures document exists – but is desperately needed; would someone want to tackle this?  (no one volunteered)

Rosalind – adding a parliamentarian position could resolve this issue

Wendy/Rosalind – expressed need for permanent address

Ben – possible for it to be his office

Glenn – need to check into PO box

Rosalind – bylaws requires physical address

Danny – use Farm Bureau, Columbia?

Many chimed in that their clubs use a PO box as 501c3

DECISION:  Danny – to set up permanent PO box with ability to forward; in West Columbia; will set it up with Wendy next Monday; we are a 501c4

Media – Danny – Bryan sending other events to him to make aware; should we share to our members?

Ben – statewide social media should be used for statewide information; State association should be for statewide audience; avoid limited local info sent to entire state; keep audience in mind when posting

Spring Conference Update – Danny:  no real update; considering list of venues

Glenn – all locations have February dates open, but none will commit due to Covid restrictions; GA  already committed to virtual the weekend prior to us

David M – agrees that we should seriously consider virtual; many speakers will not commit to in person meeting; running out of time

Ben – exploring a variety of platforms; Microsoft Teams platform is great; he is learning the system and willing to reach out to FL IT for assistance in getting it running for us

Rosalind – a decision to go virtual would allow us to pre-record breakout sessions

David – really appreciated GA virtual meeting

Glenn – participants can go back and listen to sessions you couldn’t participate in live; described the organization and execution of the GA meeting; used Zoom platform

Ben – concerned that attendance would drop for a virtual meeting; registrants may stay same, but participation drops; Clemson has not indicated that he will be allowed to participate in person

Rosalind – plan 2 days of virtual activity with a hybrid possible in-person option

Susan – expressed need for in person for MBP

Danny – plan for in-person with contingency plan; “not about speakers…it’s about the beekeepers”,  “beekeepers want in-person”

Wendy – concerned about the cost; we would not have the income from the venders

Rosalind – we do have a demographic that won’t go out even if restrictions are lifted

Danny – ages at recent Midstate event was 30 up to Wes B & David M

Ben – don’t limit plans to accommodate the Clemson restriction

Glenn – GA honey show was done in advance; national black jar event; participants 260+; 26 states represented; all had to join GBA; listed options for our meeting locations – Will need to get list from him – no one want to commit due to Covid restrictions

Danny – let’s give it another month or so; continue planning program; continue checking locations

Wendy – go ahead and lock down speakers

David – Jeff Harris and David Tarpy both committed via Zoom; will go ahead and lock in local speakers; will send to Glenn/Danny to consider

Danny – would like us to plan some breakout sessions

Ben – will work on digital contingency

Donation to Bee Cause for video presentation – Danny

Danny – concerned about setting guidelines for donations; thoughts?

Jim – provide funds, but matching funds or support in other ways like providing location, etc.; thinks we should donate to programs that benefit ALL SC beekeepers

Ben – have a limited amount specified per year for donations

Danny – need to have boundaries set to be fiscally responsible

David Y – agrees with setting up a grant program with application; set aside yearly funds;

Ben – what is our current financial picture?

Wendy – Operating balance $50,000;

Danny – we have yearly grants, but with no meetings to generate income – we won’t have the funds to cover the grants, EAS rep expenses, IT updates, operating expenses;

DECISION:  Wendy to set up a committee to propose meeting budget to give us a framework;

David/Glenn – willing to work with Wendy on that

Wendy – if reps have someone that would be willing to serve on Budget committee with Wendy, please contact her with that person’s info

Susan – budget committee to get figures to support/or not past proposal to raise membership fees

Rosalind – proposal for donation grant committee?

David Y – do research for the financials prior to establishing a permanent donation/grant committee

Ben – guidelines are important to avoid problems; for Bee Cause request….respond that we are not ready at this time due to uncertainties at this time

Susan – should I respond?

Danny – still need to set boundaries

Jim – if Bee Cause virtual only is provided for one school, then he doesn’t support it

Danny – we already have a grant program in place;

Wendy – 2 grants:  research and youth; a local association could apply in her behalf

Jim – coordinates the youth grant; explained the youth parameters; on the website

Ben – would Charleston clubs support Bee Cause through their youth grant funds?

Jim – local clubs should be the ones to support it; local clubs currently not using funds for youth; only supports it IF the videos would be available for entire state youth

Wendy – the grant money is set aside in separate accounts

DECISION:  Danny – Jim S to craft email by Wednesday – forward to Danny/Susan PRIOR to sending it to Bee Cause

MBP Update – Susan:  Online Journeyman Prep Course begins Tuesday, October 6;  Registration closes Sunday, October 4 at 9pm;  51 registered to date;  Still working to confirm November MBP Testing sites in each region; Hope to have Testing Registration available soon

Still actively working to confirm testing locations

Ben Update – working towards Bee College training for next year….hands on – field day; not sure of timing

Clemson gradually opening extension

CU has opened and he is teaching some in-person classes; exploring options for Bee Campus participation to get Clemson students involved

Farm Bureau Apiculture Committee is meeting next week – Zoom; David Y is rep for now

Floor Open for other Updates:  no other responses

Adjournment – Danny proposed; Unanimous agreement; ended just before noon