Mark Peters from Butterball Farms on second chance hiring and running a business right

Manufacturing Talks

Send us a text

Mark is one of the manufacturing executives our host interviewed for his recent Forbes article on hiring the formerly incarcerated. Mark's company, specialty butter producer Butterball Farms in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been doing second chance hiring for almost three decades now, and Mark had lots of lessons to share about that. He also shared his broader philosophy on how to run a business well, as he covered in his book, The Source. Mark's second book is in the works now. Called The Retention Trap, it focuses on recruitment, people development, talent retention, and a lot more, and Mark talks about that as well.
Here are some highlights:
3:00 - why Mark wrote The Source and what it's about
7:15 - the critical importance of manufacturing jobs and careers
10:45 - the Butterball Farm story with second chance hiring
19:15 - the reality of how poor the current hand-off is for people exiting prison and re-entering society
22:15 - in Michigan, a person leaving prison may be released in a city he or she has never even lived in before
23:45 - resources for employers looking at second chance hiring: Thirty-Two-Two (see link below)
24:45 - the main thing for employers is not to be afraid of it
30:30 - Mark's second book, The Retention Trap, and what it's all about: focusing on the wrong things, and the need to invest in our people and be curious about their lives
There's so, so much more here. Do check out the whole thing.
Here are links to the various things we discussed:
Butterball Farms: https://butterballfarms.com/
The Source: https://www.amazon.com/SOURCE-Mark-Peters/dp/1735895016
Thirty-Two-Two: https://thirtytwotwo.org/
Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2024/09/20/second-chance-hiring-has-become-a-critical-need-for-manufacturers/