QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE ELECTED COMMITTEE OF MANAGERS
April 16, 2016
Holiday Inn Corpus Christi Downtown Marina
707 N. Shoreline Blvd. Corpus Christi, Texas 78401
Call to order 8:30 A.M.
Roll call of ECM and Guests
Calvin S District 1 Vending
Dwaine Z District 2 Vending
Arnold S Food
Aloha C: Vending
Dave C Food
Clayton H: Vending
Manny S: Food
Cecilia W: Vending
Zach D: Food
Paul P: Vending
Harvey J: unable to attend.
Karla M: unable to attend.
Guests:
Beverly C, Beverly H, Kylee and Chelsea Davis, Dwaine Sparks (unassigned), Clint Winters (TWC), Louise Sanchez (brother of ECM member), Kim and Tom CHepey, and Mike Hooks.
Approval of minutes of last meeting.
Manny S moved to adopt the past minutes as they stand, Aloha C seconded.
BET Directors Report
08:38
History of the City
Hooks grew up in Corpus, he’s home. This town was founded right after the revolutionary war.
This city has a berm, it divides uptown and down town. People believe the berm was the natural waterline, millions of years ago.
Col. Zachery Taylor, secured this bay, to bring in goods. This bay/port is what allowed the city to flourish.
In the day, all the affluent people, lived at the top of the berms, allowed them fresh air.
Historical Facts:
· Actress Eva Longoria is from here.
· This was the first major city, to offer a city wide Wi-Fi, they did this to automate their parking meters.
· 5.5 inches was the record snow fall.
· Portion of the movie Pearl Harbor, was filmed on the US Lexington.
· 1919 hurricane destroyed the town.
· Hurricane Alley Waterpark, only waterpark integrated into a professional baseball stadium.
Facilities Update
· 116 facilities
· Started with 117, Richmond supported living center, it was integrated into other operations.
· 9 facilities have received upgrades, this year.
· 6 facilities still scheduled for upgrades.
· VA Waco and NASA are still run by contractors.
Temporary Management
· Camp Hubbard, Leroy Delagarza, knocking them dead out there. He’s fired up.
· Hardeaman County rest area, James is helping there.
· Army Air Force Exchange, Fashion Center and HQ, Chung is here.
· Gatesville Prison, Bobby Pecheco.
Hooks approved the advertisement, for SA medical center,
Immigration Detention Facilities
The issue involving the cashless payment system was spinning up again. Turns out, there was confusion, and the situation is back on track now.
Update on BET Operators
· 110 currently operating facilities.
· Russ Olson and Dave Stansic left the program.
· Rhonda Essen (Farmer’s branch IRS) and Elizabeth Channie (US Post Office) are our 2 new licensed operators.
Current Trainees
· John Alsace
· Ricardo
· Romero, AKA Ram.
· Ashley Edwards
Employment Data
· $70,000,000 sales
· $10,000,000 we buy annually.
· $1.5 million sales tax
· 1,470 people are employed
· 1,334 without disabilities
· 124 with disabilities
· 12 with visual impairments.
Financial Report
· $600,000 is our target for set-aside accrual.
· On track to accrue $695,000 in set-aside paid.
· Projecting $964,000 in state vending commissions.
· Trust Fund: $441,000, last year, with a projection of $456,000 this year.
SLA Staff
BET saw almost no turnover for 20 years. Hooks is very prowed of that, treat people with respect, and it is amazing what they do for your team.
Retirements
· Louis Howel, retired Dec 31 2015.
· Josh Dominguez, SR BC El Paso retired.
· Michael V, promoted from Austin SR BC to BET #2.
· Andrea retiring May 31, just announced.
· Sandra Carter, SR BC Dallas, 40 years, June 31.
SLA Changes
· Tracy, promoted to SR BC North Austin.
· Cynthia, El Paso, promoted SR BC, EL Paso.
· BET posting 4 job openings, next week, completely unheard of.
· 2 JR BC, 1 SR BC, and Hooks’ EA.
TWC Transition
· Largely involved in the transfer of BET assets, equipment, logistics, database, and reporting.
· Potentially moving the current warehouse, to a TWC warehouse in downtown Austin.
· Working out a purchasing strategy, for the transition period.
· Moving of support staff, accounting, budget, legal, all of this institutional knowledge will come.
· Continuing legal support,
DOD Facilities
Fort Bliss, arbitration was supposed to be in May. Arbitrators could not attend, due to other issues, it was postponed.
Fort Sam
Arbitration issue, where the army was requiring us to beat the best of the best proposals. In December, they surrendered, which left us concerned. We were looking for the tricky component, and it has arrived.
The new strategy was, pre-award notice of exclusion, “your proposal was found to have a confidence rating of substantial, and technically substantial. However, the proposal was determined to be out o the competitive range, and not among the most highly rated proposals.”
Legal let BET know, we would be invited to a debriefing, and Hooks requested a 48 hr lead time, which was approved.
This is the first time a RS proposal has been found technically correct, but was excluded through pricing.
Summery
Hooks does not forget the bases are only 3 of the 116, he will not forget the other facilities are also important.
The Mikes, received a call, from Rollando Garza, employee of HHSC. He met with DARS COO, requesting a meeting at TFC. Deputy Exec Director of TFC, a president of an arcatectural company, DARS COO, and the Mikes.
Texas is planning a massive build out, and the TFC requested to give us advanced warning.
TFC Projects
· 3 phases
· Triangle Austin campus, Winters, DARS admin, and Brown Heatly.
· Capital complex, area north of it, starting the capital, moving north all the way to MLK BLVD.
Triangle Campus
· North of Winter’s, parking lot will fill with a new building.
· Wanting to install a catwalk, between winters and brown heatly, crossing Lamar.
· Phase1, 1800 new employees, smallest effect.
· Phase2, 1422 employees
· Phase3 another 1400 employees.
Capital Complex
· 1 million squarefeet, phase 1.
· 4,500 new employees.
· Phase2 2,400 additional people.
Hooks is excited, this could be the biggest thing we’ve ever done, it could also be our biggest miss ever. We don’t need the statute, if we make it clear we can provide what they want, at a great price.
Manny S: will these changes affect any current building that we have any facilities in. Hooks thinks a lot of HHSC and their family will be relocated.
Manny S: has phase 1 been approved? Hooks, partially funded, but not completely, they are very confident it will happen.
Cecilia W: estimated completion date, all phases done by 2020.
Chairman’s Report
09:40.
· Clayton stated how much he will be missing Andrea. He wants to take a lookas to what we can do a little special for her, as she’s leaving.
· BLAST 2016, Clayton, Harvey J, and Manny S are going. Zach D might be going.
· Bringing BLAST back to Texas, 2018. BLAST wants it, we want it, now it is just resolving logistic issues.
October Training Conference:
· Marriott Plaza downtown San Antonio, on south Alamo.
· It’s an old 4 Seasons resort property. 6.5 acres, really nice property.
· 150-year-old house on the property, where the Friday night reception will be. It has a nice patio for outdoor overflow.
· Breakouts, will also be located out of the main structure. They will be located in an old 19th century school, in rooms that can hold from 50 -120 people.
· The contract is in place, and they are on the way getting this ball rolling.
TWC Transition
· Looking at ways we can get more involved with wellness committees, regarding better eating programs.
· Clayton feels things are heading in a really good direction right now. We still have work to do, but he thinks if we work together, we can continue providing good service, and have chances for expanding and moving on in the future.
09:46, adjourn.
Back in Session 10:02.
District Reports
District 1 Food
Manny S
· A manager was removed from DDS. Mark Russle and Aloha Cook have been teaming to help get the facility back on its feet. Both Joe and BCs have been pitching in.
· Mark R: suggested perhaps the AMPR should have a bonus point, that can be earned by people that are agreeing to temp manage.
· Harvey S: doing well, moving along, labor fun.
· Manny S rementioned his leaking grease system. He’s so happy that issue is done, and he is doing better. He’s been working with a trainee, which lead to concerns, which will be addressed later.
Distrcit 1 Vending
Calvin S
· Most managers are doing well, but there are a few minor issues.
· Robert J: Negotiating contract, Canteen vending, installing card readers and glass fronts.
· Jaime Garze: He’s doing fine.
· Cornel Pardu: could not contact.
· Deborah Westin: doing fine, frustrated with sales and competition. He recommended she invest in card readers.
· Leroy D: he was unable to contact.
· Mark V: doing good, has a new idea. Got with Keurig, commercial machine. He will sell pods from a vending machine, while having the commercial machine for them to brew. HE’s asked his BC for a stainless steel counter, to give this a shot.
· Calvin S: he’s doing ok, summer is his highest traffic, so it’s about to spin up, and roll out card readers before summer starts.
· Mike Sparks: did not return call.
Dwaine Sparks: two-part question on card readers. With vending, do your batch reports come out linked together?
Clayton S: answers. Weekly he gets reports, detail of payment, transaction count, and a sales rollup, weekly, sells, per machine, per week. You can also get one, daily, that gives that days breakdown for cash and credit. If you are so equipped, with NFC, you can immediately look at your actual inventory moving. He can get another report, a fill summery. You set up the machines online, to show it what each spindle is vending, to assist you in stocking your truck/cart, and shave off significant amounts of time, when you’re restocking.
Dwaine S: how much increase to sales, do you think card readers gave.
Clayton S: thinks possibly 10%.
Manny S: Has the same tech, on his machines, he believes during the first 6 months, he got a 20% increase. His stance is, it allows the ease of multiple product acquisitions, instead of having to feed money in for each item vended.
Clayton H: Significant decrease in complaints, like, I put a $5 bill in your machine, but it only gave me $0.8 in change.
District 2 Food
Zach D
· Steve S: health is improving. Said his facility is doing good, sales are starting to increase. Receiving complements from his building since his return.
· Rhonda Essen: doing ok, sales are fine, having a lot of issues with labor. Trouble finding people that actually want to work.
· Ed Marlow: no response.
· John M: No response.
· Al M: No response.
· Scott Smith: No response.
· JD S: No response.
· Zach D: doing extremely well. Sales are continuing to climb. Will be piloting an online ordering/payment system, in the next few weeks. Looks forward to reporting on it, at the next ECM meeting.
Distrcit 2 Vending
Dwaine Z
· Pretty much everyone is doing ok, no complaints.
· Tommie C: Ranger Hill officially opened, last month. He’s had a few issues with both vending machines and waterlines, but these issues have been corrected. Seems like things are on track for him now.
· Mentioned, Sandra is retiring at the end of June. She’ll be deeply missed. She was a wealth of knowledge for our district, and we will surely miss her.
Distrcit 3 Food
Arnold S:
· Greg is doing well, his passport pic sales were up for March.
· Tim is doing well in his place. He’s starting to look for upcoming opening facilities.
· Arnold S: his place is doing well, staying steady. He was having issues with vending machines, but they are back online now.
District 3 Vending
Cecilia W:
· Give praise to the BCs in Houston, for how they handled a operator issue.
· Ralph Thornell: a lot of his machines got flooded, in the past, the BCs are attaching machines, to his facility, to help offset all the lost income.
· Clarence W: leaving the district, moving to Austin.
· Everything else is very quiet. Much prison vending, and everyone is happy where they are.
· Sasilla: march was a record breaking month for income. She’s awaiting some equipment, but she is well.
Distrcit 4 Food
Dave C
· Rebeca Chambers: county courthouse, sales have improved. Her issue, before, was 3rd party vending appearing. Dave explained she needed to involve the BC, and he is not sure what the situation is now.
· Sylvia D: stressing, because she cannot meet recommended profit levels. She also took over the vending at the location, and her profit should be increasing.
· Tried Rolland M: no response.
· Allen Tharp: no reply.
· Terrie Houchan: he could not get ahold of him.
· Over all the response he got were positive.
District 4 Vending
Clayton H:
· Raphino: sales are going up extremely well.
· Dave C: had his best month ever, at his facility, sales going up.
· Jenna Norwood: was having vandal issues, but he could not get ahold of her.
· Ken B: He’s not heard from him.
· Louis Cantu: last spoke with, he’s enjoying his new facility.
· Robert C: He’s ok, but he’s unhappy because his facility was advertised as a level 2, and it turns out that it is not. He did get his aged machines replaced, with new machines. Three days getting those changed out. The prior operator, was not reporting the labor he paid his spouse, which is what caused the level 2 or level 1 confusion.
· Romez G: no response.
· Pablo: no response.
· Gay N: Happy with her rout.
· Elizabeth C: happy with her post office.
· Bill Pierce: no response.
· Tammy: going back to school, and moved to Austin.
· Paul Z: no response.
· Bob P: No response.
· Clayton H: it’s doing better. All water issues have been fixed. Talked briefly about pros and cons with his customer base.
District 5 Food
Harvey J: (Absent)
Clayton H, presented for Harvey.
Only food service in the district. “just fun and lovely.
District 5 Vending
Paul P:
· Mentioned how he lost his dad in March, and he thanked everyone for their prayers.
· Same story same song.
· People are fed up with Coke, and Vistar.
· Went to Josh Dominguez retirement party. Great turnout.
· Spoke with Cynthia G, she’d not yet heard if she’d gotten the promotion, which she did receive.
· Took delivery of his personally purchased 20 drink machines, revenue is up, rotation is up, down time has gone down. Very glad he made his choice to buy his own machines, so he could kick coke. He’s extremely happy he no longer has any ties to Coca-cola.
Distrcit 6 Food
Karla M
Not present.
District 6 Vending
Aloha C:
· Tried to reach out to her constituents, had difficulties.
· Complaints about BCs, she tells her managers to go up the chain, and figure it out.
· Her district is going well.
Sub Committees Reports:
Rules and By-Laws Sub Committee: Manny Sifuentes
Manny will present an outline of a proposed BET Strategic Action Plan for future discussion.
Manny S:
We’ve found many lacking qualities in the current round of trainees.
· Orientation skills
· Language barriers
· And other issues.
He thought about how we can work on this topic. He realized we’ve not looked at the BET applicant journey, in a long time. He reached out to managers, asking if they will participate on a new committee.
Committee Members
· Manny S
· Zach D
· Aloha C
· Karla M
· Clayton H
· Harvey S
He described the modernization types of changes that have affected the program and the business world, as a whole.
Goal and Objectives
All ECM members received, via email, a strategic outline, which highlighted the committee’s primary goal, and an outline of the first four objectives, with supporting strategies for accomplishing the goal.
To enhance the quality and success rate of future BET managers, by analyzing and restructuring both the application and training components of our program.
· Objective 1: To familiarize CCRC with the specific qualities and skill sets needed for interested applicants to be successful in training and as a modern business owner.
· Objective2, to create exams that focus on the applicant’s skills and abilities, related to real-life training and the necessities of modern business owners.
· Objective3, implement a Bi-lateral relationship with BET and a sub-committee, to allow clarity with applicant exam scores.
· Objective4, to incorporate, into our existing training program, a flexible training concept, while maintaining current performance standards.
Tom C: insight on OST or 2-week evaluate. Many managers throughout Texas, people are not brutally honest on these scores. He knows he gets criticized, why are you working me this hard. Deep down, he knows, that the ECM understands the importance of OST training managers needing to be much harder. Our target should be to make the OST as realistic as possible, making sure the trainees know exactly what they are getting into.
Significant conversation took place, between ECM members, Tom, and Mr. Hooks. The consensus sounded like most people did agree, and have interest in, improving the program. People agreed that trainees should always be required to at least start work, when the operator does. The concern was, if the operator keeps the person past 05:00, they need to provide them dinner, if located in Austin, because they will have missed CCRC’s meal.
The questions and scoring criteria of the OST evaluation forms came up. Tom and Zach suggested there would be a benefit if weekly evaluation forms had to be submitted, allowing for constant monitoring of skill sets and progress, or lack there of. Manny S made sure everyone understood the committee is not short-term, it will be a very long-term project. The committee will be trying to take a very organized and methodical approach, not addressing a myriad of topics simultaneously.
Finance and Budget Sub Committee: Zachary Davis
· In accordance with our By-laws, the financial data was posted to the ECM Website
· Zach D mentioned how no budget has come from the training conference chair.
· Clayton H mentioned he did know we would need to spend at least $6,500, on total food/beverage for complementary conference space.
· Zach D made sure the committee still wanted to use last year’s banquet ticket purchase method, and the committee agreed.
· Manny S asked how the account balance, compared to last year, and Zach D reported it was more than $7,000 higher.
· ECM was pleased, this showed how well we are working towards bringing BLAST back.
Elections Sub Committee:
Clayton H: no elections at this time, not yet appointed.
Training Conference Sub Committee: Karla Martinez
Not present. Clayton H spoke on this topic, during the Chairman’s report.
Training of Potential Managers Sub Committee: Aloha Cook
· 6 potential applicants interested in the fall class.
· Hopes we can make some of our training process enhancements, before the fall.
Vending Sub Committee:
· Clayton H: no person appointed at this time.
· Zach D: mentioned two concerns, voiced by business consultants, regarding vending. Look into only having one price for pastries, not having a price divide based on size. Also, allowing water to be priced same as 20oz soda, like normal vending machines. It was mentioned these prices were set by Lewis HOwel, and Zach responded, I understand that, since he is no longer here, we can now address fixing them.
· Aloha C: mentioned it is unfair that food service is not held to the same pricing requirements as vending, and she would like that looked into.
· Zach D: suggested that possibly we do need a chair of this committee, since there do seem to be topics needing handling.
· Clayton H: appointed Dave C as the new vending committee chair.
Healthy Vending
Discussion of ways to encourage our managers to offer healthier options both food service and vending locations. Plus, advertising that fact so the Legislature and Wellness Committee will be made aware of our efforts to be part of the solution not the problem.
· Discussion took place regarding details of “Better Eating Today”. What it is, how you receive the packet, and how easy it is to implement.
· Zach D continuously mentioned what specifically are we going to do to enforce this, proposing different solutions, both positive and negative.
· Different members talked about how important this is, and about future requirements that will come in law, especially if we continue to do nothing.
· The committee did not wish to decide on a specific course of action, instead, tabled the topic for future discussion.
ECM Website Update
Zach D:
· website is coming along as expected.
· ECM meeting notes are being posted, financial data is live and current.
· As soon as any data comes from the training conference committee, it will go live.
(9) Set date and city of next meeting.
The date of the next meeting was set during the Q1 meeting. It will be held in Lubbock, the weekend of July 16, 2016.
Adjournment.
Zach D: made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Manny S: seconded.
Q2 ECM meeting was adjourned.