As an Islander, it’s always fun to talk to people who are visitors to Nantucket. Sometimes I’ll share a shady table outside with customers enjoying lunch at the Farm and we’ll strike up a conversation. Once they learn I’m the Human Resources Director for Bartlett’s Farm, the question is get asked most often is: “How/Where do you find so many great people to work for the Farm?”
The short answer is “anywhere I can, from all over the world!”, but the long answer is a bit more complicated. As a year-round business in a seasonal resort community, we hire about 80 seasonal employees each summer to supplement the 35 or so year-round staff members. These come from a combination of places including visa programs, internships, referrals, local and far-reaching advertisements and even customers. I have many people who apply because they enjoy shopping at the Farm and say: “The staff always seems to be enjoying themselves. It looks like a fun place to work!”
Part of our mission statement is: “To give an enjoyable, memorable experience to our customers and staff” and we are proud of the culture we have created here at the Farm, one that has been dubbed “The Farm-ily”.
This has certainly helped our recruiting efforts with word-of-mouth as we get a lot of returning employees each summer who also refer their friends and family. Many students, American and International alike, will join us for as many summers as they are able before heading off to greener pastures. Or they decide they don’t want to leave and end up joining our year-round team. Some pass the torch to their younger siblings and even their children! I’ve had more than a few applicants tell me one of their parents was hired “back in the day” by Dorothy Bartlett and they had such a memorable summer that they still talk about it!
But it’s not always that easy. As with any employer on Nantucket, housing is always a factor. We house about 60-67 people at the farm, in a combination of family, individual or shared group houses. So, a little more than half of our workforce. And a lot more of our applicants need housing than we can provide. We prioritize returning employees, international workers and applicants who can work the longest season but it’s never enough. We hire locals and summer staff who have their own housing whenever possible.
We have many departments here at the Farm in addition to the customer service team you see working hard in the garden center, deli, market, and at the registers. Our busy production kitchen needs cooks, prep cooks, bakers, kitchen stewards and packagers for our catering and grab-and-go items. Our busy receiving and inventory team manages and rotates all the products coming in the back door including groceries, kitchen ingredients, wine & beer, plants, gift items and Farm Grown produce. The admin team, either remote or in the office, crunch numbers and/or help spread the word, so you know what is happening when and/or what’s on sale. Our field and greenhouse crew lovingly plant, water, weed and harvest all the Farm Grown plants and vegetables we grow here, and care for our chickens—in all kinds of weather.
For many years, we recruited J-1 Agricultural Trainees for our growing operations and as much as we loved meeting so many people from all over the world each year and inspiring student-farmers, they were rarely able to work more than one season. In 2020, we tried something new and brought in ten H2A seasonal agricultural workers from Jamaica. Having this crew return to us each year has been a game-changer for us and for them. They bring and build on their experience each year, which only strengthens the team. We still recruit J-1 Trainees in our Garden Center and this year, one of our interns from Brazil told us that her college professor had worked for us in 2010 and had inspired her apply. Our staff really is the gift that keeps on giving!
During the pandemic it was difficult to get international staff, but we are happy to once again host workers from all over the world. This year that includes Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, England, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.
The seasonal nature of Nantucket is even more on display on a working farm. Right now, we are bustling with a full staff, bountiful produce and a market full of customers. Things slow down as the pumpkins and mums arrive and we will be sad as many of our Farmily members depart. In the winter, our core staff has more time to connect with our regular local customers as they try to stay warm with our lunch and dinner specials. As the flowers start growing in the greenhouses in the spring, our staffing numbers start climbing up as we begin the cycle all over again! We always look forward to seeing returning Farmily members and meeting the new ones. We hope you do too!
Laura Steele, HR Director