Tracy: /* President's Previous Year Report */

2026-02-16T03:01:02Z

President's Previous Year Report

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:01, 16 February 2026
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	**But five years ago, the building was sold to developers and Spark started looking financially rocky - would we we out on our ear again?		**But five years ago, the building was sold to developers and Spark started looking financially rocky - would we we out on our ear again?
	**We saved and planned and decided we'd approach the building owners and attempt to buy it for ourselves		**We saved and planned and decided we'd approach the building owners and attempt to buy it for ourselves
	*We wish we could say we had it all wrapped up by the time of this meeting but paperwork kept delaying things - but we are soclose*! There will be so much celebration when it is finished! [[Note: the building purchase was finalized a mere 4 days after this meeting]]		*We wish we could say we had it all wrapped up by the time of this meeting but paperwork kept delaying things - but we are soclose*! There will be so much celebration when it is finished! (Note: the building purchase was finalized a mere 4 days after this meeting)
	*Again our Maker Market was amazing, we continue to have great feedback from our vendors		*Again our Maker Market was amazing, we continue to have great feedback from our vendors
	*Larry kicked butt getting Killswitch back up and it was a huge hit at the Market		*Larry kicked butt getting Killswitch back up and it was a huge hit at the Market

Tracy at 03:00, 16 February 2026

2026-02-16T03:00:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:00, 16 February 2026
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	*She has also added options where people can send a recurring donation toward the building fund or a zone of their choice.		*She has also added options where people can send a recurring donation toward the building fund or a zone of their choice.

	=Thanks everyone for making KM awesome!=		====Thanks everyone for making KM awesome!====


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	===Oh wait one more thing!===		=Oh wait one more thing!=
	*Remember when we said a group from UTK was making a documentary about us? It's done and we have a copy! Let's watch it right now :)		*Remember when we said a group from UTK was making a documentary about us? It's done and we have a copy! Let's watch it right now :)

Tracy: Created page with "== Member Meeting: January 20, 2026 == === Time & Location === 6:00pm Cookout in the Hospitality Zone 7:00pm at Knox Makers Classroom == Minutes == ===President's Previous Year Report=== *Looking waaay back to the beginnings of Knox Makers We were fortunate to have our very first space in Oak Ridge, but suddenly were faced with a 30 day eviction notice because the building was changing hands Luckily Spark saved us at the very last moment and allowed us to move into..."

2026-02-16T02:59:24Z

Created page with "== Member Meeting: January 20, 2026 == === Time & Location === 6:00pm Cookout in the Hospitality Zone 7:00pm at Knox Makers Classroom == Minutes == ===President's Previous Year Report=== *Looking waaay back to the beginnings of Knox Makers **We were fortunate to have our very first space in Oak Ridge, but suddenly were faced with a 30 day eviction notice because the building was changing hands **Luckily Spark saved us at the very last moment and allowed us to move into..."

New page

== Member Meeting: January 20, 2026 ==
=== Time & Location ===
6:00pm Cookout in the Hospitality Zone
7:00pm at Knox Makers Classroom

== Minutes ==
===President's Previous Year Report===
*Looking waaay back to the beginnings of Knox Makers
**We were fortunate to have our very first space in Oak Ridge, but suddenly were faced with a 30 day eviction notice because the building was changing hands
**Luckily Spark saved us at the very last moment and allowed us to move into the space we're at now
**But five years ago, the building was sold to developers and Spark started looking financially rocky - would we we out on our ear again?
**We saved and planned and decided we'd approach the building owners and attempt to buy it for ourselves
**We wish we could say we had it all wrapped up by the time of this meeting but paperwork kept delaying things - but we are *soclose*! There will be so much celebration when it is finished! [[Note: the building purchase was finalized a mere 4 days after this meeting]]
*Again our Maker Market was amazing, we continue to have great feedback from our vendors
*Larry kicked butt getting Killswitch back up and it was a huge hit at the Market
*Toy Tech did not seem like it was going to happen this year, but Spark finally asked us and we pulled it off yet again - big props to all of our members who helped out and rolled with it even at the 11th hour.
*Last year we started Tuesday night free events again - one week per month a cookout, one week a free craft, and one week a makery lecutre or talk. They have been a huge hit and we've gotten lots of engagement and joy from it.
*Sean graciously passed Arts and Crafts on to Matt (with Ashley as deputy) and the zone is picking up with classes and interest.
*Greenhoe will be moving away for a period of time and is passing the Woodworking zone onto Shawn to head it up in his absence.
*Margaret, who spent her precious time stocking our snacks instead of on her own projects, has given the zone to Jerry. Our cookout food quality has improved significantly!
*Tony also passed the Safety area onto Adam and Nadah who are excited to properly stock our first aid kits and teach critically needed first aid classes to our members.
*Thank you to all of our Czars, Czarinas, Deputies, Ambassadors, and Peace Officers. Knox Makers is able to do so much with your help!

===Membership Report===
*We hit 400 members right at the end of the year - who can believe it!

===Financial Report===
*2024 ending balance was $227,348 and 2025 ending balance was $439,287
*This past year we discontinued the zone profit sharing, since most of our zone budgets were flush and we wanted to focus more on saving for the building
*Donations toward the building fund ($150k so far) were able to help us pay our earnest money and closing costs, but now the real work begins.

===Announcements of Vote===

===KM IT===
*Jondale put out a call to join the KM IT group to help with all of our hosted services and our critical technical infrastructure

===President's Look Forward===
*There is not much else to say except we hope this year we can for real own our own place!
*In addition to just purchasing, we want to make the Knox Makers property *amazing*. There are necessary repairs that need to be done, but we also want to upgrade the landscaping and paint the building and make it an artistic masterpiece - it will be so exciting!
*We also will have quite a large mortgage, so we have started a capital campaign which Tracy and Sue will talk about

===External campaign===
*We have hired a fundraising company to identify possible local philanthropists that will support our efforts
*We made a landing page at love.knoxmakers.org where we can send people to donate towards the fund, and we have a Case for Support document that we can give to people unfamiliar with us that details our plans and shows that we are a responsible and legit organization.
*If anyone has contacts or employers who want to sponsor or donate, send them to us and we'll make contact

===Internal fundraising===
*Sue has showed us that credit card processing fees is not a small line item on our budget (several thousand) so has set up a way to donate via ach.
*She has also added options where people can send a recurring donation toward the building fund or a zone of their choice.

=Thanks everyone for making KM awesome!=

== Voting ==
We voted online again, with ballots opening two weeks before the meeting and closing at 7:15pm the day of.

129 people voted

The following board positions were held for election by online secret ballot and filled:

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width: 175px;" |Position
!style="width: 175px;" |Elected Member
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#President|President]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Issac Merkle
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#Secretary|Secretary]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Tracy Homer
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#Treasurer|Treasurer]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Sue Joslin
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#Technical_Director|Tech Director]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Jondale Stratton
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#Facilities_Director|Facilities Director]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Billy Huddleston
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#Communications|Communications]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Daryl Learn-Houston
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |[[Officer Duties#Community_Director|Community Director]]
|style="text-align: center;" |Sean Simoneau
|-
|style="text-align: center;"| [[Officer Duties#Volunteer_Coordinator|Volunteer Coordinator]]
|style="text-align: center;"| Russell Portwood
|}

===Oh wait one more thing!===
*Remember when we said a group from UTK was making a documentary about us? It's done and we have a copy! Let's watch it right now :)

MemberMeeting20260120 - Revision history

Tracy: /* President's Previous Year Report */

Tracy at 03:00, 16 February 2026