Meeting Minutes

Spring 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2011

Called to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:15pm

  1. Neema Moghadam – ABLE President
    1. February 21 – last day to pay dues of $40
    2. Sophomore Class Meeting after tonight’s meeting
    3. Career Exploration Mentorship with Elementary School Students
    4. ABLE Investments
  2. Leah Goldberg – ABLE Webmaster, Membership
    1. Subscribe to listserv; find directions on ABLE website
    2. Report all attendance both community service and social on ABLE website
    3. Sign up for upcoming events on the Upcoming Events tab

i.     Book Power Club

ii.     TShirt Sign Up

  1. February 24 – Indoor Rock Climbing

i.     Sign up on ABLE website

  1. Casey Olszewski – Upcoming ABLE Events Coordinator
    1. March 2 – Overnight Ski Trip at Windham Mountain

i.     Sign up on ABLE Website

  1. Lindsey McEntire – ABLE Community Service President
    1. February 16 – ABLE Blood Drive

i.     Signup for volunteer time slots on ABLE website

ii.     Spread the word for blood donations

  1. Joe Marini – Owner, Founder of Chicken Joes
    1. 7 locations, 2 of which are in downtown Albany
    2. Began in 1993 with first location in Greenwich, Connecticut
    3. Work about 90 hours a week, long hours, not easy

i.     Wake up at 3:15am and drive an hour away to headquarters

ii.     Arrive at 5am and prep for opening at 6am for breakfast

iii.     After school very busy with school located down the street

iv.     Close at 6pm

v.     Work on bookkeeping

vi.     Surprise visits to other locations (probably 3 locations every day)

  1. 6 years ago in New Rochelle opened the second location
  2. Decided to expand and open near a college campus
  3. Be sure that opening a business is what you truly want to do because it is an extreme commitment
  4. Took out some money from parents and also took out a 10 year loan which was paid off in 4 years

i.     not a smart thing to do; be sure to put money away also because you can’t predict the future; you won’t always be making money

  1. location is everything

i.     you need to research how many and when people are in the area

ii.     make sure it is truly the right location

iii.     college campus is great during the year but summers are very slow

  1. Headquarters (Greenwich, 19 years) uses 1 ton of chicken a week
  2. Millions in revenue
  3. Was a high school dropout and never went to college, but now very successful

i.     “Did it the hard way”

ii.     College students all ready one step ahead

  1. Does most of the finance and book work because of a friends experience

i.     Friend had an accountant and bookkeeper for his business and later found out they were stealing money from him

  1. If you want to open a store front work in one first for a few months and work the long hours; see if it is something you really want to do
  2. Famous Cones

i.     Tried them at a food show

  1. If he likes something he knows customers will like it
  2. Partners weren’t so sure; wanted to bring in tater-tots
  3. Possibly expanding to school locations

i.     Opened 4 new locations in the last few years

ii.     want to be smart about opening more locations with the slow economy

  1. Yates is a busier location than Western because it delivers

i.     But planning to install $1, $2, and $3 meal to the Western location only

  1. Wanting to sell out the franchise in a few years, but not yet
  2. Important to work and lead

i.     Employees have respect for you as a boss and owner

ii.     “There is nothing I don’t do, I do everything”

  1. Presentation is what contributes to success

i.     Want to make Chicken Joes the best

ii.     Being on top of the game

  1. Charity work with Chicken Joes

i.     Gets involved with the entire community

ii.     Donated 11inches of hair

iii.     Chicken Joes Ride for Kids

  1. Bike ride from Greenwich to Lake George
  2. Raised over $77,000 in 2 years for over 14 different children’s organizations
  3. http://www.chickenjoesrideforkids.org/

iv.     Chicken Joes Ride for Tiffany

  1. Rode 425 miles
  2. Raised $5,700

v.     Raises $1000 a month in chocolate bar sales

Meeting Adjourned: 8:15pm

Minutes submitted by Isabella Licata, Secretary