During the 1930s, the entire country faced economic depression following the 1929 stock market crash. With innumerable businesses succumbing to the challenging times, it would have been easy for Hager to throw in the towel and wait for the storm to blow over. Hager would navigate this tumultuous period under the leadership of August W. Hager, just as they navigated their successes… together as a team and a family.

Although times were hard for the family on the personal and business front due to the economic blows of the market crash, there would be no giving up for the Hager family. According to Withnell Hager, “We kept our organization together. We never closed down. We worked five half days instead of five full days in order to keep your employees working. We kept going even though we were losing money. We stocked our inventories, and we kept our complete workforce intact.”

Resilience, teamwork, and the ability to adapt and keep moving forward no matter what are the enduring values that Hager thrives upon to this day. In the hardest of times, Hager proved that it’s not just about weathering the times but dominating them and coming out stronger and more ready for what lies ahead.