USGBC-St. Louis Regional Chapter

Executive Committee Meeting

May 18, 2004

7:30 am – 9:00 am

Meeting Notes

April Meeting Minutes approved. To be posted on the website.

Finance Report

  • Rich presented the Balance Sheet for YTD 2004 showing assets of $22,245.82. However, this number includes all the deposits for the Symposium Expo much of which will be paid out to St. Louis Earth Day. Rich will be working on creating reports that log anticipated expenses against the balance so these reports can be more meaningful.
  • Bob Cox has submitted his letter of resignation as Finance Committee chair. After discussion, Kevin Dickens was asked to contact Tom Taylor to ask if he would assume role of Finance Committee Chair for the remainder of the year.

Outreach

  • Earth Day Symposium Follow Up
  • Finances have not yet been clarified. Full report at June meeting.
  • Ralph reported that Pat Justis initiated a meeting with Deb and Ralph to discuss ways to follow up with local government (City of St. Louis, St. Louis Co., and possibly others) in promoting green building standards (perhaps modeled after Kansas City). Dan and Punit attended the USGBC Advocacy Training so they were requested to participate in the meeting. This effort will be targeted for a subcommittee of the Outreach Committee.
  • June 18th – Cliff Majersik. Punit reported that in addition to the program on June 17th (falling under the Program Committee efforts), Corenet is holding a one-day training at the Monsanto Center. The Outreach Committee promoted this event as part of their effort to target the Commercial Real Estate Market. Pat Justis coordinated on behalf of the Outreach Committee.
  • Ralph reported that Emily Andrews had contacted USGBC to consider a joint proposal to EPA with a very short turnaround time. Punit and Dan to review options.
  • Corporate Relationships – Ralph suggested we renew our efforts to forge ties with the commercial sector. We had previously discussed starting a resources list whereby members can sign up to join a list maintained by USGBC-STL. The communications committee would probably have the responsibility to propose how the list is to be set up and how the information is to be disseminated. How the information is to be maintained and updated would probably be accomplished by Deb’s office and coordinated with Suzanne Johnson-Crocker for the web. The Membership, Outreach and Finance Committees may have additional input.
  • Next meeting scheduled for May 27th, 11:30 – 1:00, Alberici

Programs -

  • Green Building Showcase was a success. Joe Kury did a great job coordinating the slides for all the projects. The program attracted nearly 100 attendees, many new faces. It was agreed that this type of program needs to be repeated each year.

Energy Performance and Commercial Property Values with speaker Cliff Majersik will be held at the Missouri History Museum, 5:00 pm/5:30 pm. Cost will be split with cosponsor CoreNet.

  • July 13th – Building Commissioning being organized by Bob Zagar
  • August 26th – Alberici Hard Hat Tour
  • September – Vivian Loftness
  • Next meeting is scheduled June 2nd.

Communications

  • Newsletter – First one went out, good feedback. Will continue to improve and expand. Rich Ringis was big support to Joann.
  • Annual Report – Joann circulated Jan Niehaus’ proposal. Discussion about the value of doing an Annual Report as outlined in the proposal. Joann to work on scaling back the product. Will meet with Outreach Committee to better define need for this type of publication. Definitely need a package to sell membership and sponsorships.
  • Ad Campaign – St. Louis Chapter was selected as one of five pilots by USGBC to implement an Ad Campaign. USGBC will invest approximately $20,000 in placing ads etc. customized to the St. Louis region.

Membership

  • Debby Rathert is going to have to step down as Membership Committee chair because Ergo Genesis has decided not to become a USGBC member. Consideration of having Kevin Dickens serve as Committee Chair with Debby Rathert still following through on tasks she has already taken on.
  • Recruitment – Out of the 276 folks who have been members at one time or another, there has been a 44% renewal rate. Reasons for good success are credited to invoices being mailed out hardcopy rather than electronically as well as pursuing renewals at program registration. Phone calls will be made to those who have renewals outstanding.
  • Membership Services – Membership committee members made phone calls to new USGBC members prior to the May 11th program encouraging them to attend, greeting them that evening. Numerous comments were made indicating that this was highly appreciated and should be a process we should continue.
  • Next meeting is Monday, June 21st, 11:30 am.

Advocacy Training

  • Attended by Dan and Punit in Chicago on May 6/7. They both thought it was very effective. Discussed the difference between lobbying and advocacy. USGBC provides support in the form of power point presentation templates. Tracking success and challenges.

Chapter Retreat

  • To be attended by Ralph and Kevin on May 21/22.

Next meeting – Thursday, June 24th, 7:30 am EarthWays Home.