Quarterly Meeting of the State Committee of Vendors

Draft

Chairman, Randall Crosby called the meeting to order at 8:35 am. Vice Chairman, Kurt Ponchak called the role.

Friday December 6, 2024

The following individuals were present:  Randall Crosby, Chairman; Kurt Ponchak, Vice Chairman

District Representatives:  District 1; Wanda Feldsteen (via Teams), District 2; Mark Turner, District 3; Darryl Brinton, District 4; David Stevens, District 5; Phil Hubbard, District 6; Jim Warth, District 7; Sead Bekric, District 8; Orlando Ramirez, District 9; Antonio Gonzalez, 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; Angela Elgaard, Region 1A Business Consultant; Brian Ashworth, Region 1 Business Consultant; Bernie Kaiserian, Region 2 Business Consultant; Jay Payne, Region 3 Business Consultant; Tony Arduengo, Region 4 Business Consultant; Alecia Brown, Region 5 Business Consultant; Yusnay Torrens, Region 6 Business Consultant; Mary Ellen Harding, Administrative Services Consultant; Andrea Mendez, Administrative Assistant III

Florida Division of Blind Services Director:  Robert L. Doyle

District Alternates/Licensed Vendors:  Patrick Martin, District 2 Alternate; Jose Quintanilla, District 7 Alternate (via Teams); Daniel Ochoa, District 10 Alternate; Natasha Ginarte, District 3 Alternate; Daniel Ochoa, District 10 Alternate; Debbie Malmburg; Mike McCrea; T.J. McCormick; Mitzi Bowen

Career Technology and Training Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired:  Raven Pulliam; BEP, Roger Menendez, student; Bruno Arnold, student.

Guests:  Nicole Iozzi and Anthony Teta, York Street Market; Terry Smith, NABM (virtually via Teams)

Motion to adopt the agenda made by Phil Hubbard. Second by Colton Knight. Adopted unanimously.

Motion to approve minutes from August Quarterly Committee Meeting made by Phil Hubbard. Second by Kurt Ponchak. Adopted unanimously.

Motion to approve minutes of Special Committee Meeting of September 19, 2024, made by Kurt Ponchak. Second by David Stevens. Adopted unanimously.

Motion to approve minutes of Special Committee Meeting of November 12, 2024, by Kurt Ponchak. Second by David Stevens. Adopted unanimously.

Opening remarks by Randall Crosby expressed his appreciation for Tom Spiliotis and the challenges of being Chair of the Committee.

Subscription Renewal with NABM:  Randall Crosby
Randall Crosby introduced Terri Smith of the National Association of Blind Merchants (NABM). Kurt Ponchak made a motion to renew the subscription to NABM in the amount of $3,500. Second by Jim Warth. Findley shared that the NABM helps the Business Enterprise Program with multiple things including our first Committee Meeting in 2024. Findley communicates with them frequently and they give advice on things they deal with. Ponchak said NABM will be giving technical assistance with the rework of the Policy Manual. Bekric said they were helpful with Red Bull and the new Jofemar coffee machines. They are already ahead of the talk about DOE being dismantled. They assisted with a reduced cost to Innovation BLAST for the Florida vendors. Hubbard called the question. Voice vote was unanimous.

Biennial Seminar Update:  Jose Quintanilla
The subcommittee has secured the contract with two speakers. At the next planning meeting the agenda will be fine-tuned and tradeshow vendors will be reached out to. Mark Turner has a local speaker he would like to suggest. Hubbard asked for agendas from the 2021 and 2019 Biennial Seminar. Harding will send him agendas from previous Biennials.

Policy Manual Workshop Discussion:  Colton Knight
Knight has reached out to several vendors to come to Tallahassee for a couple of days to work on Bylaws changes. He asked for suggestions about bylaw changes. Ponchak suggested the review include some of the issues addressed by a previous subcommittee, especially expiration dates. Hubbard suggested that different members of the workshop look at sections of the Bylaws. Turner requested to be at the workshop. Knight asked Bekric to serve on the subcommittee to review the manual. Bekric offered the assistance of Dee Jones, an attorney who formerly worked at RSA and sits on the NABM board to assist in the Policy Manual rework. Knight Bylaws and Policy Manual could be worked on by this workshop. Risk stated the last time the Bylaws were updated was in December 2018.

Bekric made a motion to include adoption of a code of conduct policy at the workshop. Second by Kurt Ponchak. Bekric submitted a template of the code of conduct to the Chair. Crosby said both templates would be sent out next week for the workshop to review and consider. Asked for a date for the workshop. Risk asked for a list of subcommittee participants from Knight. Adopted unanimously.

Bekric made a motion to have an instructor (Dee Jones) for Roberts Rules of Order as ongoing training for the Committee at the next meeting. Second by Knight. Adopted unanimously.

Old Business:
Darryl Brinton – Three routes have been developed for the Tampa area:  Downtown, East, and West. All three routes allow for growth and specific boundaries. 396 - East Tampa Vending Route, and 161 - US Post Office Ebor/Tampa Vending Route, are viable routes with each earning around $300K on each route. 627 – Downtown Micro-Markets is also viable. The dividing line for the East and West Routes is Highway 301. 161 will have storage at 1313 N. Tampa Street, downtown. All three routes have storage and will be on the January selection cycle.

Brinton made a motion to adopt 396 as the East Route (Facility 637 - VA Temple Terrace, will be dissolved and incorporated into Facility 396), 161 as the West Route and 627 as the Downtown Route, for the reorganization of the Tampa area routes with a map of the boundaries included in the minutes (see at bottom of page). Second by Ramirez. Brinton stated that for the future consultants should be allowed to shift the “borders” of these routes as needed to adapt to changes or new facilities/locations. Motion was adopted unanimously.

Warth asked that a policy be adopted to require vendors to accept any new locations which may become available within the boundaries of their facility. Fink:  Locations should be evaluated with the consultant and remove any locations that are not performing. Hubbard:  We cannot afford to keep locations that are not profitable. Knight:  Operators should do the whole job on their route or not at all. Findley:  This is an ongoing process. If there are non-performing locations, ask the building if equipment can be relocated within a building. Bekric:  There is one route in south Florida with no storage resulting in no bids on the facility. It was asked if it is possible to provide storage for every vending route? It was asked if locations could be added to Type II vending route announcements to better inform operators of the scope of a route.

BEP Updates:  Bill Findley and Maureen Fink
Findley recognized Bernie Kaiserian for 30 years of service in BEP. Brian Ashworth was recognized for 10 years of service in BEP.

Fink:  There are currently no employees in the snack bar at the Rehab Center. Two candidates have been interviewed by two different groups and have been recommended for the vacant positions. Hubbard and … will be going regularly to the Center to help with the backend of the micro market.

Findley:  What is going on in places throughout BEP affects the entire program. He asked everyone to keep the good of the program as a top priority when changes occur. There have been changes in food service from over the counter to micro markets. Facilities have been combined to create a stronger single facility. David Chappell, our attorney, has been named the interim general counsel as of September 2024. He is an extremely bright individual.

Krome Detention Center is part of ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement). In March 2024, it became clear that Krome was building a new cafeteria and would like to take over the commissary we had for twelve years as a result. When we took over this facility it replaced ~15-16 vending machines. Over the years it has grown. Krome is now saying when the new building opens their new vendor will take over the new cafeteria and the commissary. This would be a huge loss for the Pembertons and the BEP. The Pembertons have been involved in all discussions and decisions. Christine Grassman, RSA, is the mediator we are using. We are working toward an agreement that we believe will be favorable for our vendor. It is currently with the Krome people, and we are awaiting their response. We might wind up not operating the commissary but receiving a huge percentage of the operation. There are benefits to not operating it and receiving a commission.

Key West Army:  We are currently on an extension through April 2025. As we get into the new year, we will ask for direct negotiations for the next contract.

Eglin Food Service Contract:  We did not win the Eglin food service contract with Alton Palmore and Blackstone Consulting. We had a debrief meeting to determine why we didn’t get the contract. It was not productive with contradictory answers to pointed questions. They did not take into consideration the most recent collective bargaining agreement which happened just prior to the submission of the proposal and required certain positions to be raised to a certain level. We are filing for arbitration to challenge their decision on the basis that they did not follow Randolph-Sheppard regulations. They have the right and an obligation under the regulations to talk with us.

Eglin Vending:  We have been asking for many vending locations for years. We have filed for arbitration which is set for February 26, 2025. They now want to settle. According to Chappell they do not want to go to arbitration. Air Force Attorney, Melissa Garcia, knows we are right and have the priority and the Department of Defense is wrong. It is in everyone’s best interest to resolve this. Bases all around the country can charge utilities which cuts into the bottom line. They are willing to waive utilities for up to 50 vending machines for five years. They are offering a total of 79 machine placements. They understand this may displace Army Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES). NABM filed a lawsuit against AAFES in February of this year. We are trying to create a huge, solid vending route at the bases in this area. Bordering Eglin is Hurlburt Field. We have received approval for 21 locations at Hurlburt which will be part of the Eglin route. There are other places we could acquire in addition to the bases which could result in around 85 to 100 machines for that route. We are trying very hard to find a vendor to operate the route. Ashworth and Elgaard will be scheduling a visit in early January.

Tyndall Food Service:  We made a FOIA request on April 4, 2024, to RSA to get information on the discussion they had with Tyndall prior to Tyndall making a contract award. We recently found out that the information was sent into a portal which they did not alert us about. David Chapell cannot find the information and has requested them to send him the information directly or give instructions on how to access the portal information. We have been told that if we knew what was discussed between Tyndall and RSA it would be of benefit to us in our arbitration. We have filed for arbitration.

Hurlburt:  Hurlburt is almost ready to go. Getting equipment in the panhandle is easier because we have Coca Cola United, which is a particularly good company to work with. We will probably put the route out as a Type II. Steven See at Hurlburt says they are learning about the Randolph-Sheppard Act and are writing a manual on how to handle Randolph-Sheppard in the future.

Crosby made a motion to adjourn for lunch at 12:10 p.m.

Director Doyle: 
Director Doyle expressed his appreciation for the work of BEP operators and the DBS team. He is glad we are looking at the manual. We have enjoyed good relationships for many years between the agency and operators. As Findley suggested everything should be done for the good of the program and making it a top priority.

Congress will be changing over and there are concerns about what is happening in Congress. They are currently working on the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, which is how we can do all the things we do. It was authorized for five years in 2014 and has gone five years without authorization. Congress has said it is important for them to pass a bipartisan Workforce Reauthorization Opportunity Act. They are currently no changes to our title within the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) however some of the changes they are making to titles in other programs could have an impact on us. The challenge is there is one senator who is filibustering the passage of this bipartisan reauthorization because he wants to see 14C provisions removed. 14C allows for supplemental wages. The Biden administration is trying to do an administrative rule change.

There are concerns about the elimination of the US Department of Education (USDOE). There is a chance that USDOE will be streamlined. The program could be moved over to the Department of Labor. Currently he would not be against being moved over to the Department of Labor. Florida has an outsized influence with the incoming administration. Our department is looking at ways to dream big and remove administrative burdens. We are looking for recommendations we can send forth to Washington. Suggestions from Committee Members on items we could contribute regarding RSA would be appreciated.

The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) were not given by congress the standard cost of living increase. They argued that we were not spending the money we had. We returned $6 million at the end of this year because we didn’t have the authority from the State Legislature to spend the money that would be available. We are working through budget requests to get additional authority to spend all the money that would be available. We want Congress to understand what we call the value proposition of Vocational Rehabilitation. We have engaged the Ridge Group to assist with the education of the new congress, as well as some additional public awareness to help people understand what Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) provides. Doyle asked vendors to write letters sharing their good stories with their congressmen and senators. Crosby will send out an email encouraging vendors to write letters to the Congressmen which can be sent to the State Office or directly to their representatives and senators. A template letter was discussed which could be used by all vendors. Crosby asked Representatives to ask vendors for letters from vendors to be submitted quickly extolling the successes of the program. A template could be composed for all vendors to use.

Budget Authority:  We are requesting more budget authority to replace a 21-year-old truck with a new vehicle. Because the cost of buying vehicles is going up, we are asking for more money for vehicles in the amount of $1.5 million more spending authority. We are asking for money for the library at the Center and for restoration of the Tampa Office following flooding in the wake of a hurricane.

We have exceeded all our workforce innovation opportunity act performance requirements for the last period. 

Training Center – Raven Pulliam
Pulliam expressed his appreciation for the support from staff and the two great students he has been training. Vendors have requested his assistance. He is willing to assist anyone who needs instruction but that will need to be approved by Daytona State College and DBS. Hurricanes have challenged staying on schedule with training. Next month they are going to do some food service training at the Center with the help of Jay Payne and ServSafe with the help of a new staff member. He has developed methods for training. Micro market and vending training should be combined as it is all part of computer-based reporting. He is trying to combine or simplify training. This class should finish around the middle of February. If there is time between training sessions Pulliam could go out and do training in the regions or training for vendors who need a refresher if it is allowed. He is tapping blind vendors he knows throughout the country who can provide expanded education for trainees. Knight asked if the licensure exam is being taught to students. Risk stated that licensure exam information is available online to prepare for the exam. Pulliam says they have reviewed the licensure exam information available online. Some of the training has been repetitive and could be revised, however rules and math should be repetitive within the training.

Pulliam introduced current students Roger Menendez and Bruno Arnold. Menendez and Arnold addressed the group and expressed their gratitude and excitement about the BEP.

Budget Report – Kurt Ponchak and Bill Findley
The Budget Subcommittee met on December 2, 2024; the next meeting will take place on December 18, 2024. Ponchak encouraged all vendors to participate and listen to the meetings via Teams to be made aware of how budgeting works. There is always an opportunity for public participation at the meetings.

There is no indicator or danger of BEP running out of money. We are currently on a set aside holiday for November and December 2024. The subcommittee is recommending a reduction to set aside from 6% to 3% for the months of January 2025 through June 2025.

Ponchak made a motion for the Committee to adopt the recommendation made by the subcommittee to reduce set aside to 3% for the months of January 2025 – June 2025. Second by Hubbard.
Discussion:  At the end of October, we were only $19-$20K short of the maximum spending authority the Legislature has given us for the entire fiscal year. Based on the dollars we are generating $54K-$60K per month, we will have sufficient money for the start of the next fiscal year. If something happened between January and June, we could do a budget amendment for a small amount so we would have cash available for that purpose. Reducing set aside would not affect our ability to increase our spending authority through the legislature.

Crosby is opposed to doing this currently because he believes it is preliminary to do so currently and wants to wait and reevaluate once we see the impact of the current set aside reduction. While it sounds good to have a reduced set aside for a period of time, he believes it would be detrimental for vendors. On the RSA-15 Annual Report our gross sales were ~$26 million, our net profit was $10 million. Our spending authority is $595K which cannot be changed without legislative authority. If we have an overage that is fine. In an emergency these monies could be made available, so he sees no harm in having an overage. Findley stated that as of November 1, 2024, we had budget authority of $538,465 to spend through June 30, 2025. As of November 1, we have $576,914 in cash in the Treasury, which is more than we could spend within the budget. We do need to spend to get close to the $595K. At this time have $39K more than we can spend this State fiscal year, which doesn’t include the last fiscal month, which will be around an additional $49K. RSA doesn’t tell us what the surplus should be. In using surplus even though it is sitting in the treasury it can’t be spent without spending authority. If the surplus were to be paid back to vendors a formula would need to be developed to do so, which would be quite difficult. The projected surplus would be $300K at 3%, at 6% it would be $600K, which would be fully funded for the next fiscal year.

Crosby called the question.

Vote yes if you agree with 3% set aside reduction and no if you disagree:
Feldsteen, Absent; Knight, No; Turner, Yes; Brinton, No; Stevens, Yes; Hubbard, Yes; Warth, Yes; Bekric, Yes; Ramirez, Yes; Gonzalez, Yes; Ponchak, Yes; Crosby, No.

The motion passed pending RSA approval.

Type II Update – Maureen Fink
There are thirty Type II’s currently. One (Facility 637 – VA Mental Health Tampa) will be dissolved into the Tampa Routes. Four of the Type II’s will be on the January Selection Cycle. David Alvarez signed into Facility 436 - US Post Office General Mail Facility, Ft Myers. We are waiting to see if our applicant will sign into Kennedy Space Center.

Training and Recruitment – Mary Ellen Harding
Three applicants have been referred for the mid-February training class. There are currently five applicants in various stages of the application process for the June class.

Compliance Officer Report – Alan Risk
CEU Summary:
As of December 4, 2024, we are two-thirds of the way through the 24-month CEU reporting period. As of this date, there are 99 “assigned” vendors who are required to achieve CEU compliance for 2023-2025. There are 112 total “active” vendors, which includes 3 unassigned vendors and 10 who are exempt. To be on pace for 3.000 CEU units, vendors should have a minimum of 2.0000 CEU credits by now. 81 of the 99 vendors are currently on pace to meet or exceed the CEU requirement. (81.8%). 65 currently assigned vendors have at least 3.0 CEUs. (65.7%). 10 currently assigned vendors have at least 2.5, but less than 3.0 CEUs. (10.1%). 6 currently assigned vendors have at least 2.0, but less than 2.5 CEUs. (6.1%). 8 currently assigned vendors have at least 1.5, but less than 2.0 CEUs. (8.1%). 1 currently assigned vendor has at least 1.0, but less than 1.5 CEUs. (1.0%). 3 currently assigned vendors have at least 0.5, but less than 1.0 CEUs. (3.0%). 0 currently assigned vendors have at least 0.1, but less than 0.5 CEUs. (0.0%). 6 currently assigned vendors have ZERO CEUs. (6.0%). 7 currently assigned vendors who are Exempt. (N/A)

Grievance Hearing Report:
There has been one request for grievance hearing since the August 2024 committee meeting. On November 25, 2024, a BEP vendor requested a grievance hearing regarding the proposed amendments to the Committee By-Laws. Their request for a hearing was denied by the Division as the grievance was found to be outside the scope of the requirements for grievance hearings as detailed in Florida Administrative Code. For the 2024 calendar year, there were a total of four requests for grievance hearings. Two requests were denied, one hearing resulted in favor of the Division, and the other hearing resulted in favor of the claimant.

Selection Cycle Update:
Three facilities were advertised, including two snack bars and one U.S. Post Office facility. A total of three vendors submitted applications for two of the three facilities. All three applicants were interviewed on November 1, 2024, in Tampa, and two facilities were awarded. David Alvarez was awarded Facility 436, a U.S. Post Office facility in Ft. Myers and Isreal Davila was awarded Facility 466, a snack bar at the Kennedy Space Center Space Station Processing Center. No vendors applied for Facility 403, a snack bar at the Kennedy Space Center Operational Support Building.

Selection Panel Nominations:
Risk gave instructions for nominations and voting from Florida Administrative Code.
Jim Warth made a motion to take nominations. Second by David Stevens
Mark Turner nominated Debbie Malmburg. Malmburg stated she is willing to serve.
Sead Bekric nominated Debbie Hietala. Hietala stated she is willing to serve.
Motion to close nominations by Kurt Ponchak. Second by Phil Hubbard

Malmburg:  Some believe she is biased but she asks people to search themselves and ask if she has ever treated anyone unfairly. She is asking people to believe in her. She has had varied experience throughout her career in BEP and believes this helps inform her about questions which should be asked of candidates.

Hietala:  She has served on the selection panel before. She enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the trainees through helping with on-the-job training. She might bring new blood to the panel.

Q & A of candidates followed.

Roll Call Vote for Debbie Malmburg. Vote yes to appoint Malmburg or vote no not to appoint Malmburg:
Feldsteen, Yes; Knight, Yes; Turner, Yes; Brinton, Yes; Stevens, Yes; Hubbard, No; Warth, No; Bekric, No; Ramirez, No; Gonzalez, No; Ponchak, No; Crosby, Yes.

Roll Call Vote for Debbie Hietala. Vote yes to appoint Hietala or vote no not to appoint Hietala:
Feldsteen, No; Knight, No; Turner, No; Brinton, No; Stevens, No; Hubbard, No; Warth, Yes; Bekric, Yes; Ramirez, No; Gonzalez, No; Ponchak, Yes; Crosby, No.

Debbie Hietala withdrew from the nomination.

Roll Call Vote for Debbie Malmburg. Vote yes to appoint Malmburg or vote no not to appoint Malmburg:
Feldsteen, Yes; Knight, Yes; Turner, Yes; Brinton, Yes; Stevens, Yes; Hubbard, No; Warth, Yes; Bekric, Yes; Ramirez, No; Gonzalez, Yes; Ponchak, Yes; Crosby, Yes.

Debbie Malmburg was appointed to the selection panel.

Marketing Report – Greg Coon

FY23-24 Recap:
Surveys:
50 site surveys completed July 2023 through June 2024. This includes 32 Randolph Sheppard locations, and 18 non-Randolph Sheppard.

Solicitations:
This year we have evaluated 6 solicitations, which includes campus-wide vending at Florida Atlantic University, St. Johns River State College, NAS Jacksonville Mini Mart, and the City of Altamonte Springs city-wide vending, Delray Beach Vending Machine Services, and Hillsborough Transit Authority. We did not move forward with submitting proposals for any of the solicitations reviewed as the requirements were beyond what we can provide. Additionally, we evaluated an opportunity for foodservice/micro market at the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office but declined to pursue it further.

Installations:
132 new machines were installed FY23-24 (equivalent of 142 installed with 2 micro-market conversions). This was down from FY22-23, but that year was one of our largest total years of new machines ever added. For FY23-24, the new install breakdown includes:  42% Federal, 24% State, 22% Additions to existing City/County, 12% New non-Randolph Sheppard. Note: 34% of additions are non-Randolph Sheppard

Current FY24-25 July – November:
Surveys & Installations:  18 surveys completed so far this FY July through November, with several more to be completed in December before the holidays. 49 new machines installed so far for FY24-25
Opportunities:  Since August, contact has been made with eleven city governments, two county governments, six sheriff’s offices, eight colleges, and six private locations. Minor interest from a few cities and counties and will continue to discuss opportunities with them. Good conversations with a state college, but the administration may still want them to do a competitive solicitation to maximize commissions. We currently have 38 tentative machine installations at 11 new locations expected for the Q3 of FY23-24 through March 2024. These include additions to a newly renovated building at the VA Bay Pines, and several State Parks. We also have six post offices pending that have previously been put on hold that we can look to move forward with in the first half of 2025. Q4 of FY23-24, April – June 2024 is not as definitive, but we have potential projects at Naval Support Activity Panama City, Hurlburt AFB, Eglin AFB. Additionally, there are several GSA-leased locations which we are working to schedule surveys for which could also be completed during this time.
Additional:  We have completed more agreement renewals than I can keep up with. Many of the new locations or new agreements for existing locations that were established in 2019 were expiring throughout 2024. Continuing to look for opportunities in areas with small vending routes which need to grow, such as Brevard County, Polk County/Lakeland, St Augustine, Panama City, and Collier County.
Business Analyst Report – John Ahler
Risk and Ahler have completed the RSA report which is currently being routed for final signatures. Gross sales were up 2.7%. Sales were $29.8 million last year; this year they are $30.6 million including the military. Without military we are at $26.5 million. Gross profit went up 5% from $18.2 million to $19 million. Payroll expenses were up 5.65%. Other operating costs were up 5%. Operating profit for vendors was up 4.3 %. We collected $647,926 on the federal fiscal year for levied set aside funds. Net profit to operators went from $9.7 million to $10.142 million. Average vendor earnings went from $93,800 to $98,300. Median income is $84,596. The average vend from Cantaloupe is $2.38. The actual number of vends went down by about $500K from $10.4 million to $9.7 million. The trend of fewer items but higher prices is continuing. Actual revenues went down mostly due to Mr. Parkman’s Sunpass sales.

Regional/District Updates – All

Region 3 – Jay Payne
Federal Courthouse, Orlando, Vending Route (586):  Installed five new machines and two snack machines at the Social Security Office. Installed two drink and one snack machines at the relocated IRS location at 201 N. Orange Avenue.

State Regional Service Center, Orlando (378), there has been a security issue with possibly building workers and construction workers, so we are installing a cloud-based camera.

East Orlando Vending Route (624), two of the three scheduled machines have been installed. One was delayed due to language in the contract.

Kennedy Space Center Space Station Processing Center (466), was awarded to Israel Davila. The changeover was originally set for early January but has been moved to February 7, 2025, to give the vendor more time to make preparations.

District 5 – David Stevens
Coleman Federal Prison sales are below pre-pandemic levels. Beverages must be clear like water.

District 6 – Phil Hubbard
Nothing to report.

Region 1 – Brian Ashworth
September 16th two coke machines were installed at the Madison County Weigh Station (572). Shortly after installation FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) asked that they be moved because the Weigh Station was to be demolished. October 22nd two Coke machines were installed at Rest Area I-10 Jackson County Eastbound (579), and Rest Area I-10 Jackson County Westbound (580). The Larson Building (632) micro market installation has started. We project it will open in late January. November 11th two ice machines were installed one at the Jefferson County Rest Area Westbound (Jim Perry) and the other at the Leon County Eastbound I-10 Rest Area (Kurt Ponchak). Jim Perry received his first ice delivery yesterday and started to sell bagged ice just in time for the holidays.

Region 1A – Angela Elgaard
On October 7th, 13th and 21st Rest Area I-10 Santa Rosa County Eastbound (575), and Rest Area I-10 Santa Rosa County Westbound (576), were vandalized and robbed. All the Coke machines were severely damaged.

Three snack machines and three Coke machines were added to various locations at Tyndall AFB (620). There will be more additions as construction projects move forward.

Topsail Hills Preserve State Park (638) has been operator occupied since 9/19/24. We are currently using the park’s old equipment while we are procuring new washers and dryers. Between November 23rd and December 2nd there were additional burglarized and vandalized rest areas on I-10.

District 1 – Wanda Feldsteen
Not a lot to report. Hurlburt closed the dining hall due to a long standing insect infestation and structural issues. They reopened it as a micro market which should be an RSA location. We need to be proactive about getting this facility back. The new operators were using our product and cleaning supplies to stock and clean the micro market but that was stopped. Findley: Teaming partner, Steven Grandonico, has promised at least three times he would visit the facility but has not. Upon following up with him he said something came up and he couldn’t go visit which happened again this week. He promises he will look at the facility next week. Ashworth says AAFES (Army & Airforce Exchange Service) is currently running the micro market.

District 2 – Colton Knight
Jason Carpenter’s air conditioning situation is better in the winter months. He has documented temperatures. There is enough evidence to ask DMS for a meeting to discuss a resolution before the summer months.

Region 2 – Bernie Kaiserian
New locations added:
Alachua County Facility Management is adding a new location, and 1 drink machine will be added to Facility 608 - Gainesville - Lake City Route. Their former location will be taken over by another county entity so that drink machine will also stay in place.

Sales:
Sales for 2024 are just under $5.3 million. This is a decrease of $207K from 2023, but when discounting the two Welcome Centers, who are down $457K due to the lack of Sun Pass sales, the rest of the facilities are up $250K.
Café at the US Marine Corp base at Blount Island (564), Leroy Roberts – August sales over $43K, a facility record.
US Post Office and Jacksonville Northside Vending Route (218), Kevin Nealey – sales over $50K for two months of 2024. St. Augustine Vending Route (616), Keith Banta – August Sales of $8400 were a facility record. The State’s annual Equipment inventory was completed in September. Approximately 90% of vending equipment in Region 2 has been equipped with LED lighting. 

Operator milestones:
Krekor Sampadian will pass 49 years of licensure in January 2025.

A significant renovation of the Post Office sorting facility at US Post Office Bulk Mail Center Jacksonville (487), Patti Fulda, is wrapping up. Her sales were down in 2024, but she expects 2025 to be much better.

District 3 – Mark Turner
Not a lot to report. Things have been going well. No complaints at all.
         
District 4 – Darryl Brinton
Nothing to report.

Region 4 – Tony Arduengo
Polk Route (634):  Jermaine Hicks started the facility on a Type II. He has made a good impression so far with locations that were upset with the previous operator. We rearranged equipment on the route and have plans to do a little more.

Ft. Myers Vending Route (180):  We rearranged some equipment on the route. Added the Estero Post Office location. Plans to add an additional post office in Ft. Myers.

West Tampa Route (161):  Operator has had over 100 service calls for Pepsi since May. The operator could not take on another location, so we added the Dermatology office to 396 – East Tampa Route. Lost the vending at the Town & Country PO and some vending on MacDill PO due to the last storm.

East Tampa Route (396):  Added VA Dermatology office. Hillsborough River State Park lost two vending machines and some washers and dryers during the last storm.

VA Mental Health (637):  Operator started getting deliveries at the location.

I-75 N Alligator Alley (482):  A Pepsi vending machine was stolen from the rest area. The operator did a police report. We are working on getting security cameras installed. Update: PO for security cameras was approved and we’re moving forward with installation. The facility received new snack machines and a new hot drink machine.

Hillsborough County - Possible food service location opportunity in Tampa. TJ McCormick is speaking with Hillsborough County about possibly providing service at the Hillsborough County Center. We already have vending in this building. The Tampa office flooded along with the storage room and 22 pieces of equipment were lost.

District 7 – Jim Warth
It might be a good favor to do for Hillsborough County to provide food service if TJ is willing to provide it to see if we can get other County locations as a result. The population is very low in that building.

District 8 – Sead Bekric
He has been in touch with Pepsi to get replacement vending machines for the vendor across from him once video cameras are installed. There has been a third attempt on the machine, but it was secured well enough to prevent the theft.

Adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

December 7, 2024

Meeting Called to Order at 8:30 a.m.

Roll Call:
District Representatives:  District 1, Wanda Feldsteen; District 2; Mark Turner, District 3; Darryl Brinton, District 4; David Stevens, District 5; Phil Hubbard, District 6; Jim Warth, District 7; Sead Bekric, District 8; Orlando Ramirez, District 9; Antonio Gonzalez, District 10

Bureau of Business Enterprise Staff:  Bill Findley, Bureau Chief; Maureen Fink, Operations Manager; Alan Risk, Compliance Officer; John Ahler, Business Analyst; Angela Elgaard, Region 1A Business Consultant; Brian Ashworth, Region 1 Business Consultant; Bernie Kaiserian, Region 3 Business Consultant; Tony Arduengo, Region 4 Business Consultant; Alecia Brown, Region 5 Business Consultant; Yusnay Torrens, Region 6 Business Consultant; Mary Ellen Harding, Administrative Services Consultant; Andrea Mendez, Administrative Assistant III

Guests:  District 10 Alternate, Daniel Ochoa

Region 5 – Alecia Brown
Palm Beach County Vending Route (257) may experience changes as we continue to navigate the agreement with Palm Beach County. So far one fully executed and renewed agreement is with Palm Beach County Palm Tran. Findley:  If we can’t work out verbiage for the Palm Beach County agreements we may lose these facilities. There is a concern about consistency in the agency’s position regarding the agreements.

We are still awaiting Agreement for Parks and Recreation as well as Tourist Development.

Palm Beach County Courthouse (469) is also waiting on the county agreement for the Judicial Center. The way forward for this facility outside of or along with an automated Micro market would be snack bar operations reopened and maintained by a blind operator.

Broward Sheriff Office Cafeteria Operations(612) and the south Broward vending route (547) are currently on third party, which is not an ideal situation for the region. The hope is that new operators will bid on these facilities when the current contracts are up.

District 9 – Orlando Ramirez
Ed Spence - West Palm Beach Route, has concerns about the contract for the route. They are requiring a $1M insurance policy. The premium has doubled to $1,400 per month. He also pays them a 10% commission. He has submitted a $100K policy to see if they will accept it. Carmella McKinney-George is extremely happy with her facility. Transportation Security Administration (547), doesn’t have storage, which is why the vendor decided to resign from the facility. The sheriff’s office is doing well with the opening of the garage and the population is up. The hope is when it is awarded to a vendor instead of a third party, they will give the vendor the same leniency they are now showing the third party. Some highway vendors are concerned because sales are down for the year.

Region 6 – Yusnay Torrens
The Courthouse at 73 Flagler Street (15) will be moving to a new building. Currently we have no date for completion, however the County was clear that they would let us know in advance as this needs to be advertised to the public before transferring to the new building. DBS is working with Miami-Dade County on the renewal of the Permit Agreement, right now it is waiting for final signatures; once approved, the same script will be used for the Justice Building Permit for Dade County Justice Building (156), with some extra requests to the new building management for the Tico Deli.

Federal Building Miami 2nd Floor (117):  The project at the Clyde Atkins Courthouse was completed with installation of new machines and removal of old machines which will be cleaned up and transferred to another location. The Brickell building has a third-party micro market on the 4th floor; a combo machine is placed by the entrance of the micro market and the sales have dropped 30% compared to the previous year. However, we consider it is good given the situation.

The cafeteria at the State Regional Service Center (348) (Rohde Building) is being operated by a third-party, the contract expires this month. Sales at the cafeteria are around $150,000.00 per year with commissions to our operator of 1% of net sales. Health Inspections have been unsatisfactory lately. It is recommended to put it out as a Type II to see if there is any interest in this location. If not, then we need to find a different third-party like the one handling Facility 519 - US Post Office Miami (NW 72nd Ave) or change the terms for the renewal of the contract to a flat monthly fee with the third-party paying rent rather than commissions.

FCI & FDC prisons (512/530). We proposed previously the combination of these two as a Type II LOFA and the motion was approved, it’s on schedule to be advertised soon in January. Together they make around $180K gross with 50% net.

Miami Airport (597) sales have fallen 50% due to the closing of the parole program. I have removed three snack machines from that area. Greg Coon has been trying to get TSA (Transportation Security Administration) but there’s no response from the other party and this could take a long time. This route needs more business.

Krome Detention Center, Miami (510). We are trying to keep the commissary, and this is being handled by attorney David Chappel. Mr. Findley provided an update on this yesterday, but the new building is about to be finished, and they don’t want our vendor to move to the new building, this might or might not be valid given the open case that we have but the clock is ticking.

US Army Special Forces Operations School (606). We are working on a 5-year contract for Trumbo Point. The plan is to bring the numbers up by X percentage as we have kept the same prices for the last five years despite inflation. The performance and results of Antonio and his employees at this facility are excellent, they even received a recognition there recently!

Three new machines have been assigned to locations from Facility 614 - US Post Office Doral Route. We are expecting to receive more soon to help with Coke and Pepsi problem. The situation in Miami has become a headache for the operators due to terrible service from these two companies.

Sales January - October of 2024 were $2.7M ($2,684,681.32) compared to January to October of 2023 which were $2.5M ($2,488,816.47). This represents an increase of $200K ($195,864.85 for an 8% increase).

District 10 – Antonio Gonzalez
At BLAST Antonio found out that Frito Lay will give $150 if vendors upgrade to larger size bags. Vendor concerns with Coke and Pepsi repairs continue. Antonio expressed his appreciation for the Florida BEP.

Unfinished Business: 
How to handle allowing licensed vendors to be able to vote? The district they can vote in will be determined by where they reside. The district would be determined by geographic location to the nearest facility. The agency will determine which District to assign licensed vendor.

What will be done with the hurricane generator survey results? Bekric relayed that he had low generator power to his facility resulting in his machines not working properly. 5 districts were affected by the generator issue. Because the facilities are not new FDOT is not willing to rewire generator power to the equipment. Clifford Phillips facility was affected, and it is a new FDOT facility. A solution would be for the SLA to have the affected facilities rewired to the FDOT generators.

Roundtable Discussion – All

Meeting adjourned at 10:46 a.m.


 

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