October Steering Committee Update

Mailed October 8, 2010

Dear Potential Investors and Member Owners:

I’m writing this letter to bring you up-to-date on our progress to form a producer and community-owned cooperative to secure USDA-inspected meat processing capacity to serve Whatcom and Skagit Counties, as well as expanding this capacity to increase local and regional markets for our counties’ meat producers. I’m also writing this letter to urge you to help share in the costs of conducting the necessary due diligence to make this happen.

To date we have:

• Held two public meetings (July and September) and seven meetings of a Steering Committee.
• The Steering Committee has been working with the Northwest Agriculture Business Center to prepare a counter offer to the listing price of Keizer Meats, prepare a business plan and financial projections for a new business to make the acquisition, and to prepare organizational documents (bylaws) which would govern this new business.
• Taken a physical inventory (with photos) of all equipment.
• Requested and received a title report on the property to be acquired.
• Presented a discussion brief and met with the USDA Rural Development Department to begin the application process for receiving a federally-guaranteed loan from a local lending institution to help finance the acquisition and business start-up.
• Prepared for and received a proposal from a local firm for legal review of bylaws, the preparation of all organizing documents for the new business, preparing a purchase agreement, and preparing any ongoing employment or contract-for-services agreements for the business transition.
• Sent out requests for proposals from two local CPA firms for review of organizing documents, financial projections, and tax planning.

We are striving to have a completed business plan, final drafts of all organizing documents, legal and CPA review, and loan applications ready by the last week of this month. Two members of the Steering Committee along with staff support from the Northwest Agriculture Business Center will be meeting with the Keizers and their agent to present a counter offer and begin negotiations by the middle of this month. Ideally, within the next 30-45 days the Steering Committee will be ready to present a complete package and recommendation to folks interested in joining this cooperative effort.

In the meantime, I am strongly urging everyone who is truly interested in this effort to secure and improve the long-term health of local and regional meat production to provide a tax-deductable $50 donation so that we can pay the costs of legal and CPA review. You can make this donation in two ways. You can pay via the NABC web site and PayPal at http://www.agbizcenter.org/node/63. Or you can mail a check to:

NABC

P.O. Box 2094

Mt. Vernon, WA 98273

Best regards,

Jeff Voltz, Project Manager

Local Producers Take Interest

Community interest has been strong from the get-go, but this past Thursday night's public presentation drew a great sampling of local farmers. The Steering Committee has been working hard the past few weeks to clear up confusion and gain the support of the local producers with this initiative.

Jeff Voltz and Jake Fowler, Project Managers at Northwest Agriculture Business Center, presented findings and recommendations from the Steering Committee's past couple of months of meetings. Evaluation of financials as well as forecasts were presented, along with the original details of the listing from the Keizer's.

During discussion of the organizational structure, the recommended share price of $2500 seemed well received, as did the Steering Committee's recommendations for a maximum purchase of 8 shares ($20,000), one vote per share, and a board breakdown consisting of 7 producers, 2 community members and 2 advisors (non-voting).

A summary of the presentation will be distributed to all individuals on our mailing list. If you would like to receive this, please email your info and request to chandra@scknaus.com.

Over the next few weeks the Steering Committee will finalize the details of the investment opportunity, have the details reviewed by a CPA and Lawyer. Following that, anyone on our mailing list will receive the complete investor opportunity document for review. If you would like to receive this, please ensure you send your name, email, phone and address to chandra@scknaus.com.

We hope to see you at tomorrow's presentation!

We need your input and support to help keep Whatcom meat in Whatcom County. We hope to see you at the Lynden Library tomorrow (Thurs.) night at 7pm.

Please Note:
This presentation is not affiliated with the original presentation made in June by the Keizer's, their realtor and lawyer. The Steering Committee, making tomorrow's presentation, came together after and independently to conduct an impartial evaluation of the opportunity and value of the business.

Busy tomorrow night?
Many have expressed their inability to attend tomorrow night. We will be sending out a printed copy of the presentation and investment opportunity to all interested individuals. If you are not already on our mailing list, please email your info to chandra@scknaus.com.

Public Meeting Annoucement

You Can Help Keep Local Meat in Whatcom County

In June 2010 George and Sherry Keizer, owners and operators of Keizer Meats, expressed their interest in selling. As the only USDA inspected meat processing facility in Whatcom County local producers and the community immediately came together to ensure our local USDA meat supply would be maintained. Without a USDA inspected facility, farmers cannot process their meat for resale.

Why Should I Help?
As a farmer, you will ensure your meat can be processed locally, ensure processing time lines become more efficient, and can generate more income with the added value of USDA inspected product.

As a community member or business you will be helping support local farmers, local economy and will be able to enjoy local meat from your local grocer, restaurant and school.

How Can I Help?
You can attend the upcoming presentation and decide for yourself if you’d like to support this initiative. Since June a committee of interested farmers and community members, combined with the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, have been working together to analyze the opportunity and to solidify a counter offer and plan to purchase Keizer Meats. Our evaluation of the business purchase opportunity and recommendation, as well as a business plan, financial projections, and suggested organizational structure will be publicly presented.

What is the Investment?
The current draft of the business plan calls for an individual share price of $2,500 with the sale of at least 100 shares required to support the capitalization of the acquisition and new business start-up. All details of the opportunity will be provided to interested investors.

Public Presentation
Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010
Lynden Public Library
216 4th Street, Lynden, WA
7pm-9pm


You can help keep Whatcom meat in Whatcom county. Come find out more.

Lynden Fair Flyer Distributed

We made it into today's Capital Press!

Thanks to Steve Brown, we made it into today's issue of Capital Press! Read the story here: http://www.capitalpress.com/washington/SB-meat-coop-072310

We need your feedback and a $50 contribution.

The Steering Committee is looking for your feedback and input to ensure the organization is structured to deliver the investment results you're looking for. We're also asking interested investors for a $50 tax-deductible donation to assist in due diligence costs such as title searches, business appraisals, and legal fees. If you are interested, click here to read more.

Steering Committee Establishes Work Plan

The first Steering Committee meeting held July 22, 2010 in the NABC boardroom was a productive session. Jeff Voltz led the session, keeping all of the passion under control, as the committee worked through the long list of items to confirm, research and do. We split up the different tasks and will be sharing the results at our next meeting on August 12th.

This week, an update will be sent out by email or mail to all individuals that have expressed interest in investing. The Steering Committee would like to hear back from as many as possible to find out their primary interest in investing so that the resulting organization is structured to deliver the desired results. If you are interested in receiving this letter, please email or call Chandra (chandra@scknaus.com or 360-371-0977).

Exploratory Meeting a Success!

With NABC's, Jeff Voltz, in the lead and a fabulous turnout of 38 interested individuals at the Lynden Library this evening, we walked through the opportunity of purchasing Keizer Meats, learned of the organizational structures available and discussed next steps.

The group consisted of everyone from farmers and local food enthusiasts to restaurants, retailers and manufacturers...not to mention one interested investor who simply likes to eat meat. The demand for Whatcom grown meat is evident even beyond Whatcom county with owners from the retail chain Bill the Butcher, making the trip from Seattle. We were also really pleased to attract the interest of Dick Hempler, owner of Hempler Meats, and Chris Irwin, owner of Boomer's Drive-In on Samish Way. 

The group, overall, leaned towards an LLC structure, however more research is needed to find out if a co-op structure is better suited to gain support from available agricultural monies or special interest rates offered by government organizations to support local agriculture.

With a number of questions asked, and not all of them answered, the group called for volunteers to form a steering committee to find the answers and keep the process moving. A diverse group of 7 individuals volunteered to form the committee, each with different skills and backgrounds.

The steering committee will meet next Thursday to assemble a to-do list and divide up tasks and responsibilities.

Thank you to all who attended the meeting and thanks to the local media for your help in making the meeting a success.

Read More!

In today's Bellingham Herald by Business Editor, Dave Gallagher
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/07/13/1522977/farmers-show-interest-in-keizer.html

In yesterday's Bellingham Business Journal by Ryan Wynne
http://bbjtoday.com/blog/county-food-producers-limited-processing-barriers/7974

Reminder! Meeting this Wed. at 7pm.

If you're interested in finding out more, don't miss the meeting this Wednesday at 7pm at the Lynden Public Library.

Possible Co-op to Buy Keizer Meats

As the only Whatcom County USDA inspected meat slaughter and processing facility in Whatcom county, it's with good reason that local Whatcom farm and agriculture enthusiasts have come together with a unified vision. To form an organization to evaluate the opportunity and possibility of purchasing Keizer Meats. Current owners, George and Sherry Keizer, are looking to pass ownership of Keizer Meats to a group of investors that will keep the operation running and growing as they originally dreamed, but are unable to fulfill, due to unfortunate health issues.