Sweet Beginnings, a honey and honey-infused skin care products company in Chicago, draws its name from the fully operational, onsite honey bee farm it sources its products from. But for its local community, the name stands for much more.
Brenda Palms Barber, the company’s president and CEO, partners with U-Turn Permitted, a local employment-readiness program for men and women who have been previously incarcerated. Workers hired through the program develop valuable hard and soft job skills that reduce their chances of reincarceration. The national recidivism rate is 67.8% — at Sweet Beginnings, it’s less than 8%.
See how Palms Barber is helping improve her community by investing in people, not just products, and explore other inspiring stories of small businesses that make big differences.