Pinnacle Board Meeting Minutes
February 10, 2026
Attendees in person: Michelle Strasburger, Alex Roosenberg, Kelly Cunningham, Pam Kaplan & Kathleen Reardon
Attendees via zoom: Beth Marquis, Kristen McQuaide & Kurt Simione
Absentees: Bonnie Balsamo & Monica Sava
Meeting minutes from January 22nd were approved.
Agenda Items:
Recruiting/Hiring Committee
The group decided to form a hiring committee to streamline recruiting by defining roles, interviewing candidates, and presenting final recommendations to the board for approval. Pam made a motion to approve the hiring committee consisting of: Michelle, Kelly, Alex and Kristen. Kathy seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Executive Director candidate Darren was rejected by the board. He was unprofessional after a perceived delay in the hiring process.
Chamber:
There are three membership options for the Chamber of Commerce. The basic is $100, Standard is $250 and Deluxe is $500. They will add events to their calendars and brochures, do Facebook promotions, do a listing on their website, online referrals, do a ribbon cutting ceremony, etc. Kelly made a motion for us to do the Standard option for $250. Michelle seconded the motion. All were in favor.
We will have them invoice us. It was discussed that Bill.com is the best way to pay bills.
Finance Update:
NCQE has online access now. It was decided that Kathy needs a backup signer for the NCQE account. Kelly will do it.
The Board that all general donations will go in the Pinnacle account to simplify accounting and avoid having to move cash between entities. Donations made on the website will go to Pinnacle. NCQE will be used for specific grants that exclude schools as recipients.
The Pinnacle bank account is open and has $31,000. The application for a line of credit through Bangor is in process. Bridget Freudenberger from Bangor offered to connect Pinnacle with NH Economic Development to help fund non-reimbursable renovation costs.
Lease and Next Steps:
The lease payment structure is as follows:
- Pre-opening (4 mos)-$7,600/mo., paid by the grant.
- Post-opening (21 mos)-$1,800/mo.
- Remainder of Term (15mos)-$3,800/mo.
The Term is 40 months total, with the first four months effectively pre-paid by the front-loaded structure. The Grant Administrator Casey confirmed the payment structure is acceptable for grant reimbursement.
Pinnacle will be responsible for interior maintenance, landscaping, snow removal, etc. The Landlord is responsible for major systems like heating and plumbing. Kelly will ask Casey about the 3-quote requirement for non-construction contracts.
Kelly made a motion for the board to approve Michelle to sign the lease agreement. Pam seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Fundraising Update:
IGA has agreed to do a “Roundup” program from May 22-June 5th where customers can round up their purchases for Pinnacle.
Other ideas were:
- A Kentucky Derby event at The Porch on Main (possibly the first weekend in March)
- A Kiwanis partnership to explore creating a Key Club at Pinnacle
- Gym memberships for the students at the Rec Center.
Kathy is going to reach out to NH Health and Education and the NH Charitable Foundation to discuss financing and loan programs.
It was decided that Kathy will hire Ha as the Grant/Marketing Consultant. Kelly made a motion for Kathy to hire Ha (not for over $80 an hour and for 15-20 hours a week). Pam seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Kurt-Networking Update:
Kurt redid the drawing of the building in Google Drive. There will be a folder in Google Drive with brand assets (logos, colors, fonts) and key talking points so there will be consistent messaging and branding for all board members. There will also be a folder in the drive for resumes and key messaging.
Other Business:
The board agreed to outsource HR operations and payroll through Questco to ensure compliance and efficiency. They will do payroll, tax filings, onboarding, training, and insurance. It costs $90 a month per employee. It takes 4 weeks and it costs $2,775 for the setup fee. We can frontload the setup cost with the grant.
Michelle talked about the 3 pillars at Pinnacle:
- Flexibility
- Competence
- Love of Learning
There will be ILP’s (Individual Learning Plans) and an AI Tutor Bot, which will flag issues as they arise. We want the kids to have special programs and clubs, acquire new skills and be excited to learn. There will be Ai throughout the curriculum.
Next Meeting:
The next Pinnacle Board Meeting will be Thursday, March 5th at 5:30