Workforce & Justice Alliance Member Spotlight: Frontier Co-op

The following Spotlight was featured in our end-of-year Workforce and Justice Alliance (WJA) newsletter. The selected quotes come from Frontier Co-op CEO Tony Bedard’s comments at the American Workforce and Justice Summit, and have been edited for length and clarity.

“[Coming to Frontier Co-op] opened my eyes to the idea that business can be a force for change, and that it makes sense. You have to think about where people are coming from, and you have to help them get farther along in their path.”

 Tony Bedard has spent the last two decades as CEO of Frontier Co-op, a leading national producer of fair-trade and organic herbs, spices, and other products. Bedard leads the company’s mission to nourish both people and planet, guided every day by the Co-op’s mindset that “Doing Good, Works”.

 Motivated by this belief that doing good is good for business, Bedard has been a vocal champion in the creation and implementation of the Co-op’s Breaking Down Barriers to Employment Initiative. Through the program, Frontier Co-op aims to help employees and members of the community overcome barriers to employment and economic mobility by offering accessible childcare, second chance hiring, apprenticeships, transportation services, and more.

 Frontier Co-op’s “people first culture” is the foundation of the company’s commitment to inclusivity and Second Chance Hiring, says Bedard. “Honestly, it just makes good business sense for us. And so, we're gonna do it and keep doing it.”

 Hiring returning citizens began as a practical matter for the rural Iowa-based cooperative. Driven in part by the need to fill jobs fast, and an impactful visit to a nearby prison entrepreneurship program, Tony and Frontier Co-op set up their Breaking Down Barriers program to ensure reentering individuals were able to benefit from employment opportunities with the co-op. In the past four years, the program has worked with close to 400 apprentices and hired more than 60 justice-impacted permanent employees. No apprentice has been fired for behavior related to their criminal history.

Program participants credit Breaking Down Barriers with providing a fresh start and preventing recidivism. Frontier Co-op has been intentional about lowering the barriers facing their employees – from offering programs on financial literacy, to increasing the size of lockers for employees with long commutes and ensuring to-go options are available from their subsidized onsite organic cafe – so their workers could be as successful as possible.

Alisia Weaver, one of the program’s participants who has volunteered to tell her story, has been working for Frontier for three years, and speaks directly to the impact both Breaking Down Barriers – and her subsequent career – has had for her future. She shares of her experience helping with the company’s second chance outreach:

“You know, the more I talk about my situation, it's actually truly helping me personally. I have had a hard time trying to forgive myself for things in my past, and there's things that have stuck with me. And doing this, and coming out and trying to help other people in my situation, it's helping and it's been beneficial to me personally.... When I wake up I feel more positive, more confident. I feel more accepting and forgiving of myself. When I was at my all-time low, I remember feeling 'there's gotta be a reason' – I don't know maybe this is it. Something good has to come out of this, and maybe this is that.”

Frontier’s success speaks to the broader value of Second Chance Hiring and the tremendous impact businesses can have through changing their own hiring practices. As a Workforce and Justice Alliance member, Frontier Co-op is committed to advocating for policy change within its community and across the country to expand meaningful opportunity for all.

“I can't believe how hard it is for [business leaders] to get over this hump. And I don't understand why. First and foremost, we are getting good employees. Employees who want to be here. Part of what I want to do in the last few years I have left is try to change [opinions on Second Chance Hiring] with the local communities.”