There aren’t many places that recognize that not only are the employees changing the lives of the young people in their charge, they are “far too often” literally saving their lives at the same time. Such is the amazing legacy of the award-winning team of men and women who work every day at the Boys & Girls of Benton Harbor, where they provide programming to more than 250 members every day, and more than 1,200 per year. The remarkable work being done by the staff there is reflected in the three words that best describe the Clubs as a Best Places to Work caliber company: Transformative…Meaningful…and Growing. The lump that develops in your throat when you realize that the perceived Super Power of this crew is literally the power to save a young person’s life immediately tells you that this is a special team of people doing extraordinary things in and for the community of Michigan’s Great Southwest. Paraphrasing the rest of their story would do them injustice. Read on for the truly compelling story that placed the Clubs squarely in the winner’s circle for 2021.
What is the name of the business you are nominating?
Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor
Who are the owner(s) and/or principals in this company?
The Board Chair for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor is Mike Todman, and their Chief Executive Officer is Mackenzie Kastl.
Business Contact Information
Mackenzie Kastl
600 Nate Wells Senior Drive, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
How many people work at the company you are nominating?
26
Tell us the story behind the nominated company. What does it do, and what sets them apart from other companies in the region?
Since 1998, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor has been helping youth between the ages of 6-18 to create Great Futures. In addition to recreational and extracurricular activities, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor provides after school tutoring to put members on a path for academic success, mentoring to guide members to create good character and leadership, and proven programming for youth to engage in healthy lifestyles.
With two legacy sites within Benton Harbor and a campus site at St. Joseph High School to serve children and teens in a constructive, welcoming, and safe environment, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor provides programming to more than 250 members each day, and over 1,200 each year. The Fettig Youth Campus and Joel E. Smilow Teen Center offer dedicated programs and recreational spaces including: a Gymnasium, Academics, Art, Drama, Music, Technology Instruction, and a Cafe.
The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor is to inspire and enable all young people to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor has a goal to become a Southwest Michigan Club where every member has the knowledge to make healthy choices, graduates from high school with a plan, and has confidence to build their Great Future.
In your own words, why do you think this company deserves to be declared to be one of the 20 Best Places to Work in Michigan’s Great Southwest?
The past 8 years.
What makes workers proud to say they work there, and keeps them a part of the team?
Employees at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor are proud to work at the Club because every day they are changing, and far too often saving the lives of, young people in our community. The work they do is equally challenging and satisfying. As a result, the Club has a national reputation with the Boys & Girls Club of America as one of the best Clubs in the country, providing the highest quality programming to youth in Southwest Michigan.
Let’s pretend you’re writing a review for Yelp! or Trip Advisor. Give us your best recommendation for the nominated company that would make the rest of us wish we worked there, too.
If you’re looking to make a real difference in your community, and want to not only change, and even save at times, the lives of our future leaders, this is the place to work.
What three key words best describe why this company is a Best Places to Work caliber company?
- Transformative 2. Meaningful 3. Growing
As a Best Places to Work company “Super Hero,” what are the two most magical “Super Powers” this company seems to have on a day-to-day basis? (i.e., Ability to read minds, fly, invisibility, etc) And why?
Super Power One: Is there a greater “super power” than the power to save a young person’s life? Using the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Formula for Impact, our local Club is able to employ individuals capable of establishing supportive, caring adults relationships with our community’s youth. The Club’s staff sets expectations, coaches for success and recognizes achievement in every member.
Super Power Two: The power of self-development would be the Club’s second super power. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor is an organization focused on growth and developing itself and its staff to support that growth. It is focused on hiring uniquely talented people, providing coaching and a variety of opportunities for professional training and recognizing experience. It also offers merit-based pay increases for those employees who have demonstrated increasing proficiency in youth programming.
Tell us about the leadership of the nominated company and what they do in order to:
A] Keep spirits and motivation high? The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor keeps its staff motivated by celebrating its success through organization-wide cookouts, pizza parties and annual Christmas party, and encouraging professional growth by offering performance incentives and bonus opportunities to all employees, including our part-time staff. The Club also motivates staff and keeps spirits high through its Wellness Committee. The Club focuses on the physical wellness of its employees by encouraging participation in healthy lifestyle challenges, exercise and wellness checks in partnership with Lakeland Healthcare. The Club cares about the mental health of its employees as well, and frequently partners with Lory’s Place to provide services to staff dealing with grief, loss or bereavement.
B] Keep innovation and fresh ideas advancing? To encourage innovation, the Club has implemented a continuous improvement process. It utilizes the BGCA National Youth Outcomes Survey, school educational databases, and program pre‐ and post‐testing or participant survey information to document and quantify impact. We use that information, in addition to daily pulse checks and feedback from staff, to continually improve program quality and impact.
C] Keep communications open? The Club keeps communication open among staff and its leadership with CEO listening sessions and roundtable discussions, monthly all-staff professional development meetings, 1-to-1s with managers and departmental meetings and open-door access to our leadership team for every member of our staff.
Explain a specific “wow!” moment in this company’s history that is virtually “Hall of Fame” or “Best Practices” worthy, as an example to other companies in the region.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor opened two newly constructed buildings in 2012 with an average daily attendance of about 90 members a day. In early 2020, that number increased to over 400. Expanding the reach of the Club and serving more youth continues to be one of the Club’s primary goals.
The growth demonstrated since 2012 is a direct result of the quality instructors and staff at the Club and retaining that talent with excellent working conditions, exceptional pay and benefits, opportunities to develop skills and high job satisfaction, reducing employee turnover to 15-percent. The stability of our staff, who’s first role is creating caring adult relationships, created long term relationships with our members and brought new members to the Club. In 2015, the Teen Center had 150 members per day. In 2018, the Club experimented with offering programs outside of the two legacy Club sites, introducing after-school programming in local neighborhoods. In 2019, the St Joseph High School extension opened providing programming to another 100 teens daily. The goal of serving more kids is now part of the organizational culture as future plans include opening Club sites and offering programs throughout Southwest Michigan.
Best Places to Work have a reputation for not only working hard, but also for playing hard.
A] How does the nominated company honor or reward success? The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor honors and rewards success through organization-wide cookouts, pizza parties and an annual Christmas party, and encouraging professional growth by offering performance incentives and bonus opportunities to all employees, including our part-time staff.
B] How does the nominated company socialize as a team? One of the five key elements for youth development the Club adheres to is fun! Any reason to celebrate with adults, as well as with kids, usually involves food. Celebrations include “formal” dining event programs, lots of pizza, a growing appetite for healthy foods, such as Greek salads, support the healthy lifestyles objectives for everyone, cookouts at the end of the summer prepared by the CEO introduce fun, healthy options such as grilled asparagus and peaches.
C] How does the nominated company get involved in community events? The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor celebrates major life milestones of its staff through birthday cakes along with huge cards from everyone, staff and kids alike, for adult birthdays, the annual Christmas party attended by the staff and members of the board of directors, baby showers and more!
D] How does the nominated company celebrate life? Community service is a core value of the Club, integrated into leadership programs for teens and actively demonstrated by adult service in church, the health department, Rotary, and Shop with a Cop activities. For the past three years, the annual Community Safety March from the Youth Campus to Benton Harbor City Hall highlights the nonviolent ways to resolve conflict in the community and involves city and county government and law enforcement leaders, religious leaders, the media, and keynote speakers, all arranged by the the Youth Campus staff and members as part of the Torch Club leadership program.
Write a brief, but compelling, recruitment ad telling people about why they should come and work there, too.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor offers passionate people an opportunity to change the world through youth development. If you’re interested in challenging yourself to serve youth, thriving in an environment where you are completely supported by the team around you, and serving a community full of opportunity, we invite you to join the Club today.
What one thing is special about your nominated company that most people in the community have no idea actually happens there, but should be shouted from the rooftops because it’s that cool?
The youth at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor have incredible talent and potential. Despite what is usually reported about the young people of Benton Harbor, Club members thrive, overcoming challenges to succeed. The youngest members work incredibly hard developing literacy skills, up to 70-percent are 3rd grade reading proficient. Middle school teens compete vigorously for Torch Club leadership positions, as the Junior Youth of the Year, and to win on the basketball court. High school members at the Teen Center are eager to learn about career opportunities, options for college, trade school, or military service, compete to be recognized as the Youth of the Year, and proudly graduate from area high schools. The list of successful college graduates is getting longer with every passing year. All this happens because of the incredible talents and dedication of employees establishing caring adult relationships, many of which continue long after they outgrew the Boys & Girls Club.
Give us three employee perks or benefits that you think make the company you have nominated worthy of a Best Places to Work trophy?
- Paid time off for all employees, even the part-time employees
- Performance incentives and bonus opportunities for all employees
- Plus, health, dental and vision coverage, flexible work schedules and generous paid holidays for full time employees
If this is your company and you win, write the best headline ever for your company newsletter describing your successful selection to the list, and be as specific as you can about how you would celebrate the win if money were no object.
We are the best place to work, and now everyone knows it, because of you!
If there were unlimited funds to celebrate, the Club would like to take care of its employees and their families, because we truly care about them and their futures. We would start by making all of our part time employees full time, giving them access to greater benefits and financial security. We would also want to start a scholarship fund for our employees’ children, so that the Club could take care of them long into the future. Finally, we would also throw a community block party to thank all our members and their families for trusting us with their children each and every day.
Tell us anything else you want about this company that you suddenly realize we haven’t asked you about, but you’re sure will be the thing that puts you squarely into the winner’s circle! (Wait a minute! Can you put a square in a circle?)
Respondent skipped this question
