PALMER .ALA3CA Dorothy M. Bell, Editor
Published every Thursday at Palmer, Alaska, for the Matanuska Valley Farmers'
Cooperating Association for the purpose of giving news of the Associations Work,
Problems and Accomplishments. ' ' .
SUBSCRIPTION BY FAIL $1.75___SINGHS COPY . W
THE IMPORTANCE OF TIE BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN A COOPERATIVE
In Practically every article written about cooperatives, the importance of the Board *
-'r 'jvectors is greatly emphasized. This may leave the general impression with the r
vo.'.'.-A _• that the most important part of the association is the Board. Perhaps it iz ••
•.t rould he. hard to decide. No do knot;,however, that'a greut deal depends upon the
Bcaid and*when any member is elocted to that position, he has th6 right to feel that
: Aas the confidence and trust of the members who put him there. He will also feel
- : t a great responsibility has been placed upon his shoulders.
n,'Mr Board of Directors arc—
Jte-nresentatives of the poonlc. or members of the Association. They and tho people
they represent are the actual owners of the business,
c- "!•-'.ponaible for tho establishment of sound operating policies for the Association,
3,expected to hire as good a manager for the Association as tan be obtained and any
other omployoos directly under thoir supervision.
The Director sits bn the Board as a representative of the people. He is a member and
a producer himself, but his job now is to consider the interests and welfare of the
people as a whole.
D.R. Bailey aays this about a director: "The willingness of members of integrity to
accept the responsibilities end inconveniences of tho director’s position truly
exemplifies the strength and merits of the cooperative enterprise. Yet his relation
ship' to the organization is so vastly different from that of the member that it’is
not*surprising to find an accoasional lack of understanding of his difficulties."
The formulating and carrying out of the policies in a Cooperative is not the easiest
thing in tho world. Many problems are always arising that cannot be skipped over
lightly—problems that must be studied and acted upon wisely. Board members aro
directly responsible for the acts of the Association—so says tho law. The following
citation from a oourt record in which c corporation was involved makes this point very
clear. The decision of the court included this statement.
"It is his (a director’s)duty to know what is being done by the executive officers or
employees of the comrany and he cannot ignore and neglect'those duties and then escape
its liability by pleading the negligence of the directors. A director representing
a corporation is conclusively given to the business of the Corporation that reasonable
attention and observation that a man of ordinary care and prudence would give to his
own business under the same or similar circumstances-It is quite apparent that
this whole trouble grew out of the fact that no officer or director of tho plaintiff
company took sufficient interest in the affairs of'the company to give it any personal
attention. The Board of Directors met in a fdimnl manner from time to time, listened
to a report made by the manager and adjourned, going their several ways and no member
of the board of directors went to thrt office of tho company and took the tine and
trouble to inspect tho books, files, or other records of tho office to. ascertain
what in fact was being done by the manager. Thoy took it for granted that what the
manager was doing was all right and they must now abide by the consequences."
The function of the §oard is to proscribe the policies of the association in all
phases cf its operation. The execution of these policies is charged to the manage
ment and -it is their definite responsibility to see'that these policies are carried
out. The selection of a capable manager, therefore, becomes a very important part of
the duties of a Board.
The Board members are also very important factors in membership relations. They may
contribute much to satisfactory conditions'and general attitude and good will or they
may provoke very unsatisfactory conditions. It is not expected that any one director
could be Satisfactory to all the members of the Association. He will always get
criticism, but he should have the support of the majofity of the Association members.
Director’s decisions arc based on many considerations, same of which arc unknowh to
the grower member. En understanding of the problems involved and the many factors
which must be weighed before a decision can bo reached wnould chock to some extent
the human tendency to criticize. The members had their chance to voice their opinions
at the membership meeting. 14 i* therefore necessary that they consider very carefully
whom they ask to fill this most important post of the Association.