Mark and Jerry Suter

Jerry:
Grew up on a farm near Pandora, OH, graduating in 1976 from Bluffton College with a Mathematics degree where he was in charge of the campuses’ one and only computer. He bought the 136 year old cider press and has been making cider for 50 years.

Now he and his son Tom run “Suter’s Produce” where they hire 100 High School and College students to run little red barn markets in neighboring towns selling strawberries and sweetcorn. In the fall they run a Corn Maze with hayrides, cider, donuts and pick-your-own pumpkins.

His specialty is keeping those 100 students happy, motivated, and returning year after year.

Mark:
Mark has been teaching technology and entrepreneurship for 18 years to high school students. Every topic he teaches is paired with real world experiences where students are expected to embrace failure and develop resilience. He does this by demonstrating risk-taking and failure himself.

Mark credits his entire outlook on how to work with high school kids to his dad Jerry. He said “Dad treats these workers like they’re his own kids, I’ve never seen anything like it. He loves them and encourages them to be THE BEST not just at work but in their own lives”.