Pub. 1 2019-2020 Issue 4

http://wvcar.com 14 WVADA With Mike and Tim Matheny Q & A These are undoubtedly unprecedented times. What are you doing, as a small business, to weather the storm? MIKE: We’re following all the recom - mended CDC guidelines and taking all the necessary steps, such as social distancing, to keep employees and customers safe. TIM: Our management team’s first prior - ity is the health and safety of our work - ers and employees. West Virginia, as a whole, has been a pretty safe state when compared with other states, especially in the big cities. We’ve been pretty fortu - nate in that regard. The car side of our business has most - ly local traffic, but we also have a lot of truck drivers coming from theWest Coast or the East Coast. We’ve had a curbside takeaway, and people can call ahead for parts. People out of our area have come to us, and we’ve met their needs. Our business is a little different from the car dealership world in that respect. What are you doing to support your employees? MIKE: We have 350 employees and about 70 part-time employees, and we’ve had no major problems. Some of that is luck, but we’ve been doing our due diligence internally and externally. TIM: We are trying to get problems re- solved thoroughly but quickly. One way we’re trying to protect our employees is that when someone goes out of town, like Myrtle Beach, we are having them take some time off and have them take the rapid response test in case they contract- ed something out of town. For example, an employee went to a horse show over the weekend, and they were notified lat - er that a friend had tested positive. We got them a two-hour test. What are two things that you have learned from past experiences that are helping you navigate now? MIKE: Probably the biggest thing is com - munication, both giving it and getting it. We encourage everybody to communi- cate about any situations they are con - cerned about. TIM: Our past experiences have helped us keep on top of the pandemic. The management team from me down, and especially my HR manager, has been en - gaged with employees. We engage quick - ly with situations for everyone’s benefit and help everyone stay away from being exposed. We have 12 locations over a few states, so it’s not like we can manage the problems under one roof. Early on, during March and April, we had two employees who tested positive in a remote location. One generally worked by