A Q & A with Sara Blair, Director of Human Resources at Country Maid, Inc.

Jeran Culina: Tell me about yourself.

Sara Blair: I’ve spent 25 years in the HR field—but I’ll be the first to admit, I’m what you’d call an accidental HR person. Right out of college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I started as a supervisor in retail and, over time, found myself gravitating toward people leadership roles. That’s when I started to really focus on HR—first in onsite leadership and eventually moving into recruitment and broader employee relations work.

Over the years, my role and philosophy have evolved. Today, I’m the Head of Human Resources at Country Maid, a manufacturer best known for our frozen pastries, including Butter Braid® Pastries. What’s special about Country Maid is that we approach HR differently than most companies. I started out with a more traditional HR mindset, but I feel truly blessed to have found a company where I don’t have to follow the conventional playbook.

Here, we prioritize the employee experience, from culture-building and recruitment to workplace relations. We’re not just trying to build a company—though of course that matters. We’re trying to give people an experience, a community, and a whole life. When employees leave at the end of their careers, we want them to say they found purpose and belonging here.

Jeran: When did you start working with Business Leaders United and National Skills Coalition?

Sara: I first connected with BLU in the summer of 2024. It was an immediate fit. Our shared focus on people and community-centered workforce development really resonated with me. I had the chance to attend the fly-in event that September, which was a powerful experience and deepened my appreciation for advocacy in this space.

Jeran: What’s the biggest workforce challenge your business has faced in recent years—and how has it impacted your ability to grow or compete?

Sara: We’re in a very different position than many manufacturers right now. A few years ago, we set a bold vision—not just to grow as a company, but to create an experience for our employees. That intentional focus on culture has paid off. While other companies may struggle to fill roles, we currently have a waiting list of 170 people who want to work in our food manufacturing facility.

But that doesn’t mean we haven’t faced challenges. Since COVID, we’ve experienced massive growth. And we realized that while we were expanding, we weren’t equipping our employees with the tools they needed to keep up—tools like a growth mindset, resilience, and the ability to tolerate ambiguity. The workforce is not prepared to deal with the speed with which the world is changing. That’s where programs supported by WIOA and tools like the 260 grant funding have been critical in helping us build those capabilities.

Jeran: Can you share a story of a worker whose career path changed because of a training or support program?

Sara: One of my favorite examples is a woman who joined us as a seasonal associate on the manufacturing floor. She came in with a natural ability – she could immediately see how a machine worked – but our training model wasn’t very structured, and that can be hard for someone like her, who thrives on structure.

We saw her potential and invested in her – sending her to additional training classes and offering continuous learning opportunities, both in-house and informally. That investment paid off. She moved into a full-time role, and just two weeks ago, she was promoted to become a production line coordinator. She’s a great example of how patience, hands-on training, and opportunity can lead to real advancement.

Jeran: Why did you decide to get involved in advocacy through BLU—and how has it shaped your perspective?

Sara: It’s changed how I see our role as business leaders. At Country Maid, we’ve worked on everything from workplace flexibility for our desktop team to culture-building and even internal childcare solutions. But through BLU and NSC, I’ve come to realize that we can’t do it alone.

As businesses, we need partnerships. You can come up with one solution on your own—but when you bring multiple brains together, that is when the real, lasting solutions emerge.

For our strategies to be scalable and resilient, we need collective action. That’s where NSC comes in. NSC are the integrators. They’re the glue that pulls everyone together.

Jeran: What do policymakers and other business leaders often get wrong about workforce development?
Sara: The biggest misconception is that there’s a single solution – a silver bullet that can fix everything. That’s just not how workforce development works. There aren’t home runs—it’s base hits.

We need flexibility in our workforce programs, not one-size-fits-all solutions. Another challenge is that we don’t always take the time to listen to each other as business leaders, especially when it comes to policy. Some of the legislation out there is complicated and overwhelming. I often need help seeing the big picture—and I know the people designing these policies need our voices, too.

Jeran: If you had the ear of Congress or your state governor for 60 seconds, what would you ask for?

Sara: Right now, everything feels so divided and volatile. If I had just one minute, I’d say this: Please remember that employees are people—not problems.

My biggest fear is that the funding we rely on—the resources that help people grow—will be cut or forgotten. When we focus too much on the issues, we risk forgetting that behind every issue is a human being. And we’re all just trying to help people build better days.