Meet Justin Bartlett, co-founder of Legacy Labor

Photo courtesy of Legacy Labor

We had the opportunity to connect recently with Justin Bartlett, co-founder, co-CEO and director of sales and marketing at Legacy Labor, a farm labor contractor providing H-2A labor throughout the United States. Bartlett gained a passion for horticulture while working on his wife’s family Christmas tree farm and founded Legacy Labor with his brother-in-law, David Judah, in 2020.

We asked him to share his story, the impact H-2A workers have on the industry and how he advocates for them.

Greenhouse Management: How did you get into the horticulture industry?

Justin Bartlett: My wife was one of six girls, and her father started a Christmas tree farm in Michigan. I was in charge of sales there for 15 years and never thought I’d be selling a Christmas tree — I fell in love with the industry. I just loved what it meant, but then I also saw firsthand what the workforce meant for the family farm. That farm would have been out of business 35 years ago without the H-2A visa program.

GM: How did Legacy Labor come about?

JB: I started this business in 2020 with my brother-in-law, David Judah. We were passionate about helping growers who were struggling by providing them with labor they could trust to allow their business to sustain and grow.

We wanted to help the growers whose legacies were at stake. We wanted to be a trusted contractor who can take the exposure and the risk of the H-2A program off their plate. Our vision is to do things the right way.

Our motto has been relationships. We have workers willing to leave their families back at home for up to 10 months a year. I can’t imagine leaving my family for an opportunity to be able to provide a good living for them. But they’re willing to sacrifice and come here to the states, and we’re able to provide them with a good job, a good place to work and good living conditions.

GM: How has the company grown or changed over the years to meet the needs of growers?

JB: We’ve slowly grown to 17 states throughout the U.S. and expanded into nurseries and greenhouses for annuals and perennials and CEA growers. We’ve also started to provide housing where the grower did not have any available. I would say for half of our contracts now, we own the housing and have the housing available.

GM: How have grower needs and the labor market changed over the years?

JB: We’ve had some instances where growers were struggling and their businesses suffered because they didn’t have the labor. Then, once they had the labor show up, they could start focusing on their business and start growing that side of it.

It’s not necessarily a change in their needs or a change in the market, but once they start using the program and our services, their mindsets change and start focusing more on just their business, and then they get excited because they have a consistent, reliable workforce to show up and workers who want to work.

GM: How does Legacy Labor advocate for H-2A workers and their employers on the national stage?

JB: I was just in Washington, D.C., with the International Fresh Produce Association on Capitol Hill, meeting with members of Congress about regulations that need to get changed that are barriers to the industry for growers and workers.

We were in D.C. on Capitol Hill in February, too, for the National Council of Agricultural Employers. We were a sponsor for a fly-in with the U.S. Apple Association, and we’re going back to D.C. in September with AmericanHort. So, that’s a minimum of four times a year we as a company are not just supporting it, but we’re boots on the ground, shaking hands and having conversations with members of Congress.

GM: Why is this industry important to you, and what motivates you to keep going?

JB: We have a passion for the farmer, grower and worker because we’ve seen firsthand workers who have been here for a long time and how it’s changed their lives — how a consistent, reliable workforce has really transformed these farms.

Growing up in a rural area, my wife growing up on the Christmas tree farm and working there her whole childhood, we know what farms mean, and family farms, too. Just being involved in the industry as long as we have, we care about it, we love what we do and we’re able to provide a good service of value to these growers.