Quarterly Meeting of the State Committee of Vendors
Friday, March 12, 2021
Chairman James Warth called the meeting to order at 8:30am. Vice Chairman Terri Lindstrom called the role.
The following individuals were present:
James Warth, Chairman
Terri Lindstrom, Vice Chairman
District Representatives: Kurt Ponchak, District 1; Mike Renaud, District 2; Mitzi Bowen, District 3; Randall Crosby, District 4; David Stevens, District 5; Phil Hubbard, District 6; Jose Quintanilla, District 7; Sead Bekric, District 8; Joel Rose, District 9; Lilian Pemberton, District 10.
Bureau of Business Enterprise Staff: Bill Findley, Bureau Chief; Maureen Fink, Operations Manager; Alan Risk, Compliance Officer; John Ahler, Business Analyst; Greg Coon, Marketing and Site Development Manager; Brian Ashworth, Region 1 Business Consultant; Jay Payne, Region 3 Business Consultant; Tony Arduengo, Region 4 Business Consultant; Rafaella Diershaw, Region 5 Business Consultant; Janet Chernoff, Administrative Services Consultant; Mary Ellen Harding, Administrative Assistant.
Licensed Vendors: Debby Malmberg, District 1 Alternate; Colton Knight, District 2 Alternate, TJ McCormick, District 7 Alternate; Mary Hayes, District 8 Alternate; David Kaplan, District 9 Alternate; Woody Matthews, Jim Anderson.
Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired: Steve Moss and Angela Elgaard and trainees William Daniel and Tyler Collins.
Guests: Terry Smith, National Association of Blind Merchants; Bunny Proof, Erin Schramm and Stacey Vargo, USA Technologies.
Kurt Ponchak made a motion to amend the agenda to allow Division of Blind Services (DBS) Director Robert Doyle to present whenever he is available as he has a conflict at his scheduled time. Passed without objection. Janet Chernoff read a synopsis of the minutes of the December meeting. The full minutes were emailed to all members prior to the meeting. Lilian Pemberton made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Seconded by Kurt Ponchak. Passed without objection. Mike Renaud made a motion to add Maureen Fink to the agenda at 11:00am. Maureen will be reporting on Type II status and the pilot BBE to install electronic locks at rest area locations. Seconded by Jose Quintanilla. Passed without objection.
BBE Updates – Bill Findley
The BBE is not making any decisions on facilities that have been impacted by the pandemic. Recovery could take months and the BBE wants time to assess the viability of facilities before making a decision to combine or close them. Prior to the current crises a determination had been made on the status of some facilities and the BBE has moved forward. Facility 377, Martin County snack bar had sales lower than the BBE standard for viability. The snack bar was closed when the vendor, Mike Lauderdale retired. Facility 455, Federal Building snack bar was without a permanent operator and also had low sales. The BBE had previously determined that it should be converted to full vending or micro market. The facility has been converted to vending and is being operated as a Type II by Guillermo Alvarez. Brian Britt, the operator of Facility 124, Hillsborough County Courthouse vending passed away recently. This facility was also an under performer. The locations have been divided between existing facilities along geographic lines.
Jay Payne asked about updates from the Department of Transportation (DOT) on the status of rest areas. The BBE has not been receiving any information. Bill Findley has reached out a couple of times in the last two months to no avail. He was promised an update within a couple of days of a recent phone call but still has received no information. He will continue to follow up.
A solicitation was posted the evening of December 8, 2020 for military dining at Eglin. The solicitation did not include the Randolph-Sheppard priority. Attorneys from the Department of Education (DOE) Office of the General Counsel (OGC) contacted them and the priority was added. The deadline for the proposal was pushed out to January 8, 2021 with a start date of February 1, 2021 which was logistically challenging. Alton Palmore was selected as a Type II operator for this opportunity. No decision has been made on the award and the BBE has been told that the military has not had time to evaluate the proposals. The current contract has been extended twice with a new start date of April 1, which is likely to be pushed out to May 1. The annual value of this contract will be $1.6 million. The proposal for the military dining contract at Hurlburt Field was submitted on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The annual amount of this contract is expected to be just over $2 million dollars. Wanda Feldsteen is the operator selected for this opportunity. BBE retained the budget authority of 2.5 million that it had for the Camp Blanding and Pensacola military dining contracts which it will be able to use for the new contracts. If BBE is awarded both military contracts it will need approximately 1.3 million in budget authority. The extra budget authority will not be needed immediately and BBE does not expect to have any problems getting it.
Seventeen machines were installed at Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) in the fall of 2020. This location is part of Facility 620, Panama City route and the location was doing well. The BBE elected to install Coke machines as the Exchange had Pepsi. Recently the Exchange contracted with a new vending company who changed the machines and have placed Coke machines next to BBE’s machines. We have advised the attorneys. The BBE is working on vending for Eglin AFB and is planning a site visit to survey the location.
Three Square Market presented to BBE staff at their meeting on Thursday, March 11, 2021. They are the only micro market company that seems to be making an effort to make their kiosk accessible for the visually impaired. Nicky Gacos and Terry Smith have been speaking with them and they are working with a contractor, Chris Ingram who is visually impaired.
RSVF Update – Colton Knight
Colton is filling in for RSVF president Woody Matthews. Woody is in route to the funeral of vendor Brian Britt. As part of RSVF’s outreach they sent flowers to the funeral on behalf of the blind vendors of Florida. Colton reported that the organization is planning a membership drive in advance of the Biennial. They are offering a discount on membership until the meeting in late August. At the Biennial they will be holding elections for officers, signing up new members and having a raffle. RSVF continues with its fundraising efforts and has raised over $6000. They provided $100 gift cards to vendors impacted by Covid-19 and raised over $2000 for licensee Ryan Akeley who lost his home to a fire. They are planning on offering a $2000 scholarship and want to encourage entrepreneurship in visually impaired students. The group did a survey of all BBE vendors on the distribution of the stimulus money and passed the data on to the Appropriations Subcommittee.
USA Tech – Bunny Proof
Bunny Proof, Director of Inside Sales at USA Technologies introduced Stacey Vargo, Sales Representative and Erin Schramm, Account Manager. Stacey and Erin will be working with BBE vendors. Bunny answered questions on charge backs that vendors are receiving when customers question a charge. She recommended that vendors post information about five dollar pre-approval on debit cards and suggested specific descriptions including location information and zip codes for each device as customers do not always remember using a credit card on a vending machine. The pre-authorization comes from Visa and USA Tech is discussing the possibility of lowering it with them. The credit card companies charge USA Tech a fee on fraudulent charges and that fee is passed on to the operator.
Another question was about availability of customer service on the weekends. Customer service is currently not staffed around the clock. USA Tech has an answering service and staff on call to deal with emergencies. They are looking to expand their staff but hiring and training has been a challenge. They are working on adding more people and creating teams to deal with different issues. Bunny will provide the BBE with a contact list. The group discussed Cashless Plus that helps a vendor monitor their machines. There is a charge and includes a planogram and training. USA Tech is developing a mobile app for the system. John Ahler advised the group that the credits to vendors from the outage in September have been completed and also advised vendors who are seeing a scrambled display that a firmware update is needed. BBE staff can assist vendors with getting the update.
National Update – Terry Smith
Terry confirmed that he and Nicky Gacos have been working with Three Square Market and that this company has been responsive and are working on making their system accessible. The National Association of Blind Merchants (NABM) will be offering training on how to run an effective meeting. Information is on their website at blindmerchants.org. The National Council of State Agencies for the Blind will be meeting May 4-7, 2021 and will be focusing on Randolph-Sheppard the afternoon of Friday, May 7. NABM will be meeting during the National Federation of the Blind meeting in early July and hope to have a half day training during the National Automatic Merchandising Association meeting in New Orleans in August.
Another relief bill was just signed and included a provision that makes the first $10,200 in unemployment payments exempt from income tax. There is also twenty-five billion for restaurant relief. This is a grant that does not have to be repaid and could help with inventory replacement. The National Restaurant Association will be doing a webinar with more information on the subject on Monday, March 15. The bill passed in December allotted twenty million for Randolph-Sheppard vendors. BBEs will have to apply to get this money and they are waiting on guidance from RSA. The answers to the frequently asked questions were delayed when a new Secretary of Education was confirmed but should be received soon. Once that direction is received BBEs will need to submit a plan and have it approved. Once the plan is approved it is expected that the money will be received within two weeks. It is possible that additional money will be requested for loss incurred in 2021.
Type IIs and Rest Area Pilot BBE Update – Maureen Fink
Twenty-five facilities are currently under a Type II LOFA. Four are on the current selection cycle, twelve will be on future selection cycles and we are determining viability on seven. Two locations are under a Type II because the permanent operator is on a medical leave of absence.
The BBE has started a pilot BBE and is installing smart locks on storage room doors in some rest areas. Locks have been installed in three facilities in Region 4. They are also experimenting with a smart plug for vending machines. Cost for the locks including installation is less than $1000 per door. The BBE will purchase the hot spot but the vendor will need to pay any internet fees. Currently that fee is not considered an approved business expense. The Committee would have to discuss and vote on whether to include the cost as an approved expense. Recently a representative from DOT confirmed that BBE vendors were allowed to place cameras inside of their storerooms.
Daytona Training Report – Steve Moss, Angela Elgaard
A total of eight students have done training virtually. Two students started in person training at the center on February 15. One of two, Tyler Collins has moved on to on the job training. He is currently working with vendor Mike Renaud. The second, William Daniel finished up this week and will be licensed on March 15. Two more students will start on Monday, March 15 and will need four weeks to finish training. Three more students are in line to complete their training at the center once these two are finished. Angela Elgaard has prepared an assessment for the snack bar training that uses a five point scale.
Sunshine Law Training – Alan Risk
A power point presentation provided by the OGC was shared with the group. Alan Risk read the text. Randall Crosby confirmed that committee members cannot have individual discussions on any subject that may come up in front of the committee. Bill clarified that individual members may discuss business in general but cannot discuss any subject that may result in an action or decision by the committee. Alan told the group that they need to be cautious and that they cannot use another vendor or staff to be a conduit to another committee member. The Sunshine Law is designed to prevent “backdoor politics”. There was concern that it would be difficult to get things accomplished without being able to discuss things in between meetings. Recently the Appropriations Subcommittee had scheduled meetings in advance to make sure that there was suitable notice. Two of the meeting were later cancelled because there was not sufficient information to proceed. Kurt Ponchak asked about the elections for district representatives, alternates, Chairman and Vice Chairman. Alan Risk confirmed that all elections will be public and a record made of how each member voted. Colton Knight asked about the possibility of an exemption for selection interviews. The BBE previously asked about this and were advised by the attorneys and the Department of Education (DOE) that an exemption was not a possibility.
Budget and Appropriations Subcommittee Report/Discussion – Kurt Ponchak, Bill Findley
The BBE is in good shape financially and should be able to match federal dollars by the end of this fiscal year. The budget shows that the BBE is doing a good job of taking care of necessary expenditures while keeping costs down. Bill Findley reported that set aside is down to $26,000 per month as opposed to the average of $45,000 per month in 2019. Projects have been delayed but are still planned for the future.
The Committee voted to waive the net profit expectation until March 2021 at the last Committee meeting. Kurt recommended that the waiver be discontinued. He feels that operators have adjusted to the new normal and their net profit percentage should reflect that adjustment. Kurt Ponchak made a motion to discontinue waiver of the net profit expectation. Randall Crosby disagreed but seconded the motion so that it could be discussed. Randall wants to extend the net profit waiver as many vendors are still struggling. Mike Renaud agreed with Randall. Phil Hubbard and David Steven also felt that the waiver should be extended. There was discussion about concerns that some vendors may be taking advantage of the waiver and it was determined that BBE staff would monitor the monthly reports and deal with these concerns on a case by case basis. Kurt withdrew his motion and restated it. Kurt made a motion to extend the net profit waiver until June of 2021 and review it again at the next Committee meeting. Seconded by Phil Hubbard. Passed without objection.
Bill Findley reported that he had just received an email from the RSA with the answers to the frequently asked questions. The Appropriations Subcommittee will review the document and will meet on Monday, March 22 at 3pm. The Appropriations Subcommittee has met several times since January. They have worked on several issues including eligibility and a formula for distribution. They addressed two of the assurance questions regarding the distribution of the money and how to ensure that blind vendor losses were not previously compensated. The subcommittee is recommending a proportional distribution. They will use attestation to ensure that vendor losses were not previously compensated. The subcommittee used the reporting periods of March – December 2019 as compared to the same period in 2020. They used net income as vendor income. A spreadsheet was prepared without identifying data such as vendor name or facility number for the subcommittee’s review. They decided that a vendor that is retired who had operated a facility for a full month in 2020 would be eligible to receive a prorated portion of the distribution. They also discussed using facility income and vendor income and hope the RSA answers will give some direction. No distribution will be made to the estates of vendors who passed away or vendors who made more money in 2020. Janet Chernoff advised the group that the subcommittee had voted not to consider income from secondary facilities. There was discussion about using net profit as vendor income and Phil Hubbard had concerns that different types of facilities have different parameters. The formula that subcommittee is using takes the total calculated loss divided by the grant to the state less any administrative costs to get a percentage. This percentage will be multiplied by the individual loss to determine the individual awards. The group discussed using net profit to determine vendor loss. Alan Risk charted the twenty facilities with the highest losses and while food service is experiencing the most negative impact, the three facilities with the highest losses were non-highway vending facilities. The subcommittee will review the RSA documentation and adjust their recommendations according. Once the subcommittee has concluded their review and finalized their recommendations a meeting of the Committee of Vendors will be scheduled to discuss and vote on the plan.
Marketing and Site Development – Greg Coon
Eighteen surveys have been done and eighty machines have been installed for fiscal year of 2020-21 through February 2021. In fiscal year 2019-20 eighty-two machines and one micro market was installed. In fiscal year 2018-19 ninety-seven machines and two micro markets were installed. Overall new installations are on track but fewer surveys have been done due to restrictions on travel and limited access to locations. There has also been slower progress from start to finish on many projects.
The solicitation for the vending at Sarasota County has closed and the BBE was not awarded this opportunity. An agreement is in progress for Blue Springs State Park which includes six machines and two sets of coin operated washer and dryer set-ups. The BBE is waiting on an agreement for two state parks, Fort Zachary Taylor and Ft. Pierce Inlet. There is also one new opportunity at St. Andrews State Park which is expected to begin in May 2021. In the first quarter of 2021 installations were done at Indian River County Administration Building and at the FBI and Social Security buildings in Orlando. Twenty vending machines and one micro market are planned in the near future at locations at Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Orlando, VA Clinic in Deltona, Blue Springs State Park and at the Department of Children and Family (DCF) in the Centre of Tallahassee. The BBE also has several locations with completed permits that have not been installed primarily due to Covid-19 with reduced populations and closed buildings. Locations include FBI Homestead, National Park Service at Homestead, Social Security in Margate, IRS in Fort Myers and West Palm Beach and locations added to the Palm Beach County vending contract. The BBE is looking at new opportunities at the Leon County School District bus depots, Naval Support Activity Panama City, VA opportunities in Lakeland, Ocala and North Jacksonville and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The BBE is working on a five year agreement for the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) cafeteria. A temporary agreement was put in place in the fall of 2020. The BBE hopes the new agreement along with the planned expansions at the location will make this a better opportunity for a BBE vendor.
Business Analyst Report – John Ahler
Eighteen virtual monitorings have been completed since the meeting in December. Set aside was down $286,633 in 2020 as compared to 2019. The program did not collect set aside for the months of March, April and May. Reimbursements were also down. In 2020 $99,196 in reimbursements was paid as compared to $223,820 in 2019. John reminded the group that it is important to keep the machines in good repair. Sales in 2020 were down 36.23%, net profit was down 38.68% and set aside was down 50.61%. Federal prison facilities were effected the most with a drop in sales of 80%. Snack bars had reduced sales of 64.5% and cafeteria sales were down 54.4%. Interstate and non-highway sales had a similar drop in sales with highway vending down 28.1% and non-highway vending down 29.7%. Post office vending was the least impacted with a sales only down by 7.1 and net profit decreased 8.5%. BBE has 2700 card readers on the primary USA Tech account. John believes that communication with USA Tech will improve with the addition of Erin Schramm.
Compliance Officer Report – Alan Risk
One hundred and eleven vendors are required to achieve CEU compliance in the 2019-2021 reporting period. The requirement has been completed by eighty-one vendors. Twenty-two vendors have completed at least two CEUs and eight vendors have less than two CEUs. Alan has sent reminder emails to all vendors that have not completed the requirement.
No new vendors have been licensed since the December meeting. One trainee, William Daniel will be licensed on Monday, March 15. William is participating in the current selection cycle. A total of four trainees were licensed in 2020. Of the four, one has been awarded a facility and one is participating in the current selection cycle. Three of the vendors licensed in 2019 have not been awarded a facility. One of the three is participating in the current selection cycle.
Three requests for grievance hearings have been filed since the December meeting. On December 11, 2020, a vendor requested a grievance hearing regarding the Division’s decision to not award them an administrative appointment to a potential military dining opportunity. The hearing was scheduled but the claimant withdrew the request prior to the hearing. On December 28, 2020, another vendor requested a grievance hearing regarding the Division’s decision to not award them an administrative appointment to one of two military dining opportunities. A grievance hearing was held on January 12, 2021. The grievance panel voted unanimously in favor of the Division and the DBS director concurred with the panel’s recommendation. One grievance has been filed in 2021. On March 5, 2021, a vendor requested a grievance hearing regarding the Division’s decision to not award them a business opportunity as an administrative appointment or as a Type II. A grievance hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 18, 2021.
Five facilities were posted in September 2020 and three were awarded. Facility 513, Jacksonville vending route was awarded to Josh Kimrey. Facility 547, Broward vending route was awarded to Orlando Ramirez and the potential Hurlburt Field military dining opportunity was awarded to Wanda Feldsteen. Facility 352, Broward Government Center snack bar and Facility 612, BSO cafeteria were not awarded. Three facilities have been posted for the January 2021 selection cycle. The available facilities are Facility 469, Palm Beach County courthouse snack bar; Facility 586, Orlando vending route and Facilities 577 and 578, I-10 rest areas in Holmes and Okaloosa counties. Ten applicants applied and three withdrew prior to the exam. Seven applicants are scheduled to interview virtually on Tuesday, March 16, 2021.
Regional/District Updates
Region 1 – Brian Ashworth/Janet Chernoff
Maureen Fink accompanied Brian on Wednesday, March 10 to investigate reports that Coke machines have been placed next to BBE Coke machines at Tyndall AFB. Legal has been advised of the situation. They also visited a local Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) building and observed that all staff have returned to the office. Hopefully this trend will continue at other locations. Four machines were installed at the Leon County School administrative buildings. This may lead to an opportunity at three bus depot locations. Brian is waiting for a return call. Equipment at the cafeteria at Southwood has been removed and there is a rough draft of plans for a micro market at the nearby Betty Easley location. We have advised them of our requirements for electrical.
The Larson building location is still closed and the operator, Steve Docie has been advised that the building population will continue working virtually until April. The Collins Building snack bar is open one day a week to serve food and fill vending. The cafeteria at the Claude Pepper building remains open and the operator is running it without any staff.
District 1 – Kurt Ponchak
Kurt had a district meeting on March 9. The vendors in his district have no pressing issues and mainly discussed the disbursement of the stimulus dollars.
District 2 – Mike Renaud
Mike is working with trainee Tyler Collins. Tyler will also be working with other local vendors during his on the job training. Mike is concerned about food service locations that are still closed.
Region 2 – Maureen Fink (for Bernie Kaiserian)
Sales for Region 2 were down 24% for the period of November through January. Food service at the Jacksonville Federal Building and the Jacksonville Service Center are stilled closed. New vendor Justin Davis signed into Facility 33, Duval County Courthouse in February. Almost 90% of the vending machines in the region have card readers. The Visitor’s Centers at the welcome centers at Facility 423 and 489 will be selling T-shirts and will pay a commission to the vendor.
District 3 – Mitzi Bowen
Everything is quiet in District 3. They had hoped that construction on Facility 424, rest area I-10 East in Suwannee would be far enough along for it to be posted on the current selection cycle. It may be another year before it is completed. Mitzi asked about getting the labels from USA Tech and was told that a vendor can order them and be reimbursed. Vendors will also need to check with USA Tech about updating address descriptors for the machines.
District 4 – Randall Crosby
Not much to report. A Buc-cee’s service station was built north of his rest area and another is planned for Daytona Beach.
Region 3 – Jay Payne
The food service at the Hurston building is still closed. Machines were installed at the Bronson Lab and Social Security office on Facility 624, East Orlando vending route. Machines were also installed at the FBI in Maitland on Facility 586, Orlando vending route. Both snack bars at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are open and are doing about $300 per day. Sandra Marecki, operator of one of the snack bars is using on-line ordering. The electronic locks are being tested at rest areas in Ocala and Mims. An install is planned for the VA in Deltona on March 25 and hopefully Blue Springs State Park will be installed in April. A VA in Ocala is planned for 2022. The operator of Facility 494, Orange County Courthouse vending has resigned effective the end of March. Paulette Williams has been awarded this location on a Type II and will sign in on April 1.
District 5 – David Stevens
No news to report
District 6 – Phil Hubbard
Vendors in his area have questions about the stimulus money. KSC may start to bring staff back in April.
Region 4 – Maureen Fink (for Tony Arduengo)
Brian Britt, the operator of Facility 124, Hillsborough County Courthouse vending passed away in February. His funeral is this afternoon and Tony is attending. The facility’s sales were lower than the standard for viability so the locations were divided up among other facilities along geographic lines. Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and a VA State Nursing home on Facility 272, Pasco-Hernando vending route are reopening. Another location on the route, E-Telequote Insurance is not expected to reopen as staff continue to telework. The BBE is testing electronic locks in three rest area facilities in Region 4. A new vendor is expected to take over Facility 628, Lee County vending in July. This facility is going to be combined with Facility 112, Collier County vending. The snack machines will be removed from Sarasota County locations in April as the BBE was not awarded the new contract. Valerie James is running Facility 433, rest area on the Skyway Bridge on a Type II. The permanent vendor is on medical leave.
District 7 – Jose Quintanilla
Jose confirmed that Brian Britt’s funeral was scheduled for this afternoon. Vendors in his district are concerned about the stimulus payments and charge backs from the card readers. One vendor asked about extending the time for submitting a reimbursement to ninety days. Another vendor has had problems with a large group of homeless living at the rest area. Maureen requested that information on the problem be sent to her so that she and Bill Findley can follow up with DOT.
District 8 – Sead Bekric
Sead held a district meeting on March 5th. Vendors are asking about the stimulus monies. He also asked if USA Tech could communicate with vendors when the card readers are not connecting with the servers.
Region 5 – Rafaella Diershaw
Don Gerschick retired the end of February and Raiza Miranda is servicing the vending at Facility 469, Palm Beach Courthouse on a Type II. This facility is on the current selection cycle. Machines have been installed in Indian River County locations and at the Water Department in Palm Beach. Populations are slow to return to federal and state buildings but workers are returning to county locations. Machines were also installed at Facility 547, Broward vending route.
District 9 – Joel Rose
Orlando Ramirez has signed into Facility 547, Broward County vending route. He also has Facility 352, Broward County Government Center snack bar and Facility 612, BSO cafeteria on a Type II.
Region 6 – Maureen Fink
A new consultant for the region has been selected and hopefully will start within the next couple of weeks. Facility 455, Federal Justice Law Enforcement in Miami has been converted from a snack bar to full vending. Guillermo Alvarez has this facility as a Type II. Facility 348, cafeteria at the Miami State Regional Service Center is still closed and there is no population in the building. Facility 15, Dade County Courthouse and Facility 156, Dade County Justice Building snack bar have remained open. Jurors are returning to Facility 156 and location has on line ordering. The prison locations are still closed.
District 10 – Lilian Pemberton
Vendors in her district are struggling and need the stimulus money to survive. Sales at her facility, Krome Detention Center have declined over the last year and have been impacted by the change in immigration laws made by the new administration. Managers that are open are doing their best to save every penny.
Roundtable Discussion – All
Jose Quintanilla told the group about a mentoring session held via Teams on January 20. The group talked about what to expect from your first facility. Jose wanted to thank vendors Josh Kimrey, Terri Lindstrom and Natasha Ginarte for talking to the trainees.
Kurt told the group that the Appropriations Subcommittee will accelerate their discussions which may mean multiple meetings during the week. Randall Crosby told the group that he agreed with Phil Hubbard in that facility types should be considered when preparing a formula for the distribution. Sead Bekric said that Vistar is returning to previous minimum order requirement of $750 as of April 1. Mike Renaud confirmed that they had already raised it in the Panhandle. Vistar had temporarily lowered the minimum during the pandemic.
Kurt Ponchak made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Mike Renaud. Meeting adjourned at 4:15pm.
