Tri-County 
Women in Business

Membership & By Laws

New Membership
Guests must attend two meetings before submitting their application for membership.

New members must submit application to the Membership Chair. After interviewing the prospective member and confirming the prospective member is a good fit for the group the Membership Chairperson will send out an email ballot for current members to vote on the acceptance of the new members. The decision to accept new members will be a majority vote.

Members are restricted to one leads generating group.
Members are encouraged to bring guests to meetings after confirming with the Membership Chair.

All members agree to accept the following responsibilities in the group:  Participate in at least one ongoing or special committee per year, assist in at least one event or booth a year, attend weekly meetings, pass qualified leads, pay quarterly dues.

Organization/Leadership
The organization’s board is comprised of a governing board of six members with equal authority.

President: lead the group, coordinates and conducts weekly meetings, appoint and oversee committees as needed.

Vice President: assist president, schedule presentations, report lead generations.

Treasurer: handle all money and transactions, maintain bank account, and invoice quarterly dues.

Public Relations: communicate with outside groups as needed, keep group informed of activities and events in community, advertise TCWIB.

Membership Chair: greet guests at meetings and events, accept new member applications and submit a ballot for vote by members.

Secretary: keeps minutes for each meeting, maintain legal minute records

Election of officers shall be held yearly in December with the new board taking office in January. The new board may amend the bylaws with a majority Board vote legally documentation in the meeting minutes.

•General meeting format
Member introductions, pass referrals, discuss new/old business, business minutes, presentation or brainstorming session, inspirational minute, board meeting updates, board position updates.

Attendance
Meetings are extremely important and members are encouraged to view weekly meetings as important as client appointments.

Members may miss a maximum of three meetings per quarter, but no more than one per month. You are responsible for notifying the group of absences in advance: i.e., a message to the President or Vice President or Membership Chairperson. A member will not be considered absent if she has someone represent her at the missed meeting.

A member will be given a warning one time after missing the 2nd meeting. After missing 1 full month a written warning will be issued and the Board will make a decision within 2 weeks regarding the membership standing of truant member. If a member needs to take a leave of absence, she must submit a form to the Membership Chairperson which must be approved by the board. A leave of absence can be no longer than 1 month before the position becomes available to a new member.

Suggestions/Voting
Members are encouraged to make suggestions and submit them to the board president at any time. Final decisions will be voted upon by the board and reported back to membership at the following meeting and in the minutes.

If there is a matter that a member wishes to address and bring to the board, she may make a request to present the matter at a board meeting. The member will be given up to 5 minutes (so as not to take up the time provided for board meetings) for her presentation after which, the board will continue with their executive board meeting which is open to board members only.

Dues
Quarterly membership dues of $30.00 will be billed the first week of the quarter and are due the third week of the quarter. If dues are not received the delinquent member cannot return to the meetings the following month until dues are paid, her position will then be open to a new member.

New members will be charged a new member fee of $5.oo in addition to her first quarter dues.

Dues will be prorated for new members joining mid-quarter. Dues are non-refundable.
Dues will be used for administrative and operating expenses.
Other expenditures such as group functions will be voted on by the board.

Termination/Resignation
The group holds its members to high professional and ethical standards including, but not limited to, representing the divisions of non-competing industries as they are defined by the group and representing the group and its members in a positive light during meetings and outside the group.

Ethical issues will be arbitrated by the board and their decisions are binding.

Membership may be terminated by the board if a member violates the bylaws or ethical standards or displays unprofessional behavior. Termination requires board discussion.

If a member wishes to resign from their position in the group, she must either write a letter of resignation or send it in an email to the Membership Chair.