Shawn Hartley grew up in the onion business, but he wasn’t always sure it was for him.

Growing up in Prosser, Wash., Hartley, president of Syracuse, Utah-based Utah Onions Inc., worked the family land with his father and two brothers.

After graduation from Utah State University, he faced a decision.

“I wasn’t ready to head back to the farm,” Hartley said. “I wanted to try out a few things.”

Hartley landed at Salt Lake City-based produce wholesaler Blaine Hartley Inc., a company owned by his cousin.

A little over a decade ago, a door opened that turned out to be Shawn Hartley’s portal to his past.

Utah Onions, founded in 1977 by four Utah farmers and a group of investors from Texas, came up for sale. Shawn Hartley, his cousin Trent Hartley and a third partner, Brad Dahl, took the plunge and bought it.

It was kind of a homecoming for Shawn Hartley — Utah Onions was the longtime marketer for Hartley’s Produce, the onion grower-shipper owned by his family. And it allowed him to stay in his new home state.

“It was an opportunity to work with my family but not be part of the family operation,” he said. “And Utah’s a great place to live. There aren’t too many produce jobs in the state of Utah, believe me.”

He and his partners set out to build their version of Utah Onions on a direct-sales model, Shawn Hartley said.

Bypassing brokers and wholesalers not only saved customers money and increased returns, it meant one less link on the supply chain — a big plus, Hartley said, when it comes to food safety.

Bob Meek, CEO of Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Wada Farms Marketing Group, said Shawn Hartley’s career thus far is evidence of the great industry education he got from his father and other family members.

“Shawn Hartley is one of our industry’s best. During his whole career, he has been driven to make this industry better by focusing on strategic positioning and growth in the industry.”

Shawn Hartley, 41, said it’s being open to change, depending on the customer’s needs, that makes a good leader in the onion business.

“You’ve got to be able to be flexible, to see things changing on a weekly or even daily basis. If something’s not working, you can’t be set in your ways. And you have to work hard — this job is never done.”

 

Written and published by Andy Nelson with The Packer, October 23, 2015