HJV Equipment links culture, hands-on leadership, and disciplined benefits planning to keep attrition low and engagement high
This article was produced in partnership with Empire Life
In Canadian agriculture, consistency is hard to come by. Markets swing, weather shifts without warning, and new tariffs threaten to raise input costs across the supply chain. For a company like HJV Equipment, planning for the long term means more than tracking forecasts or pricing models. It means ensuring that the people who keep the business running have the security, support, and confidence to manage uncertainty.
HJV Equipment was founded more than 30 years ago in Alliston, Ontario, by farmer David Vander Zaag. From the start, Vander Zaag believed that the same values that sustain a farm— hard work, respect, and a sense of shared responsibility—should guide how a business treats its employees. Those principles still define the company today as it serves growers through their locations in Ontario, the Maritimes, and Michigan.
“Our success has always come from the people who choose to work here,” Vander Zaag says. “When they do well, we do well. That mindset influences every decision, including the benefits we offer.”
The company’s programs are built around a simple idea: a workplace should function like a well-run family farm, where each person understands their role, feels valued, and knows that their contribution matters. Benefits in that context are not incentives, they are infrastructure.
Left to right: Ryan Vander Zaag (Service Manager, HJV Equipment), Linda Hart (Director HR & Training, HJV Equipment), Paul Crossdale (CEO & President – benefitsConnect), Alex Blouin (HR Specialist, HJV Equipment)
Great products, great service, great people
HJV’s business is built on great service to their customers. The key to great service is having a team of knowledgeable employees with a passion for their mission to “help farmers feed the world.” HJV’s team consists of a minimum of 10% apprentices at all times. That commitment to investing in youth and developing a best-in-class apprenticeship program is an investment in the future. Youth add diversity to the team, energy, creativity and new ideas.
Grounded values, practical care
The company’s culture and approach to benefits has remained rooted in simplicity and care. Vander Zaag describes HJV’s values as an extension of the farming mentality. “Farming teaches you humility,” he says. “Farming can result in the loss of money in a bad year, so in this industry you learn to plan ahead and take care of what really matters.”
Director of Training and Human Resources Linda Hart says the company’s “care factor” is what sets it apart and has helped it grow and expand into new markets. “We look at benefits as support for every phase of an employee’s career,” she explains. “When apprentices come in, we help them understand not just their trade and career paths, but also their benefits and perks, the value to them and even the importance of saving early. Later on, we focus on their benefits for when they have families and dependents and eventually on planning for retirement.” The result is a framework that mirrors the life cycle of work in agriculture: steady, practical, and long-term.
Frontline coordination also plays a critical role. Benefits Administrator Alex Blouin sees firsthand how the company’s culture shows up in daily interactions. “When an employee reaches out with a question, we do everything we can to get an answer quickly,” he says. “It’s about removing stress so they can focus on their work and their families.”
Attrition at HJV Equipment is just four percent, a figure that reflects how firmly culture and benefits are intertwined. Regular “centre meetings” with Vander Zaag and the vice-president team is an example of their open-door culture, enabling employees to raise questions directly. “It’s important that our people know we listen,” Vander Zaag says. “We do not get everything right, but we always look for ways to improve.”
Benefits built on trust and strong partnerships
As agricultural markets adjust to higher operating costs and tariff uncertainty, financial planning has become essential. HJV takes the same disciplined approach inside its own operations, ensuring that employee well-being is treated as a long-term investment.
That principle led the company to partner with benefitsConnect and Empire Life for group insurance and administration. The relationship reflects a shared focus on reliability and service. Hart says the partnership, which began with benefitsConnect over ten years ago, allows HJV to respond to employees with the same efficiency it offers customers. “When someone calls about a claim or medication, we get an answer right away,” she explains. “That speed matters. People should never have to worry about whether their coverage will come through.”
Blouin sees that partnership’s value daily. “It gives us confidence,” he says. “Empire Life and benefitsConnect know our business, and they make it easy for us to take care of our team. That kind of support goes a long way when you are helping someone through a claim or benefits question or signing up for their retirement savings plan.”
The partnership also helps the HR team adapt benefits to the changing needs of a multi-generational workforce. By sharing utilization data and trend insights, benefitsConnect and Empire Life help HJV refine plan design over time. “They understand who we are,” Hart adds. “They make it simple to keep improving, which is important to us.”
Andrew Hubbert (Millwright apprentice, HJV Equipment)
Innovation and stewardship go hand in hand
At HJV’s engineering division, innovation is viewed as another form of care; care for the environment, the customer, and the community. Vice President of Engineering Dan Mann leads a team that applies the same philosophy of continuous improvement found throughout the company.
One recent project focused on an innovative solution for a water recirculation system, with a flocculant utilizing a natural occurring compound. The solution reduces waste, cuts disposal costs, and supports environmental stewardship.
“We try to build equipment with the farmer in mind,” Mann says. “It has to be reliable, easy to maintain, and better for the environment. Small improvements like that can make a real difference over time.”
That commitment to thoughtful design mirrors how the company approaches its benefits strategy—it’s about reducing friction, improving resilience, and building systems that work under pressure.
Benefits, innovation, and partnership are all part of the same equation: investing in people so the company can weather volatility without losing its footing.
Vander Zaag often returns to a simple truth learned on the farm: “You cannot control the weather, but you can control how you prepare for it.”
