Pub. 1 2019-2020 Issue 4

http://wvcar.com 12 WVADA M atheny Motor Truck Company was founded in 1922, and will soon be 100 years old. Tim Matheny, the compa - ny’s current president, plans to cele- brate the centennial during the entire year. The company is now in its fourth gener - ation of Matheny leadership: • L.G. Mac Matheny, the founder, was actively involved in the company until 1962. • Mac’s son Paul, an only child, began working for the company in 1952 and retired in 1984. He passed away in 1991. • Paul’s son Mike joined the company in 1969. He is still involved in compa - ny operations. (Mike’s sister, a retired schoolteacher, was not interested in the family business.) • Mike, who has been married for about 55 years now, has two children, Tim and Marni. Tim joined the company in 1991 and is its current president. Tim’s sister, Marni, joined the company in 1988, earned her CPA and worked as treasurer. She retired in 2018. Mike’s Journey Mike always wanted to be part of the family business. In junior high school, he began working weekends in the parts department and working a little in the service department while also holding down a paper route seven days a week. However, Mike earned a B.S. in business management at West Virginia Univer - sity, where he made many friends he did business with later. Coursework in - volved problem-solving and leadership skills. Mike enjoyed all of it. After graduation, Mike worked two years for Exxon in the Baltimore area. The Exxon facility (the Enjay’s Fibers and Laminates division) manufactured poly - mers. He came back during a time when people were retiring and he was need - ed. “They got me involved right away,” he said. Mike worked all phases of the business. Mike was mentored by his father and grandfather, Mac and Paul Matheny, and by many hard-working, easygoing first and second-generation employees who, he said, “were raised right.” For example, Ken Roush was the service manager for more than four decades, and his son, a little younger than Mike, worked for the company as a mechanic until about 2018. Mike also remembers men like Bill Spik - er, a technician with more than 50 years, and Donny Spiker, who has been working 50 years and still works part-time. Tim’s Journey Tim grew up helping his father at a young age. In junior high, he inventoried parts and worked in the car wash. Tim attended the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, exploring either going into finance or getting into the family business. During Tim’s junior year, he began to focus on the sales and marketing side of the busi - ness program. Also, Tim started working for Cary Curry and Craig Richards at Cur - ry Buick-Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC while in college. He enjoyed his time there and decided on the family business. Tim’s wife, Monica, is currently the mar - keting director. Tim and Monica’s oldest son, Christopher, is 24, has a market - ing degree from Vanderbilt and is also involved on the marketing side. Mike and Monica are actively grooming Tim and Monica’s youngest son, Andrew, to come into the business. The family also and Counting