Pub. 1 2019-2020 Issue 4

http://wvcar.com 18 WVADA the situation. Third, don’t stray from your course. Don’t fall off the path from your objectives. Keep those uppermost. TIM: From a personal point of view, be - ing humble in life is one of the top char - acteristics an individual can have. There are two business traits I value: maintain - ing very open and honest relationships. That includes OEMs and the people working for them. Also, forge a good re - lationship with your lending institution. We’ve been with United Bank for over 90 years, and we’ve had a great relation - ship through ups and downs. If you could describe the best day in this business, what would it look like? MIKE: It’s all changed now because of the internet. I go home, and the next day there are 30 messages, 20 of which are junk. My best day is when there is just something I need to be involved in. I enjoy solving problems, answering my mail and being with my employees. TIM: Sometimes, an individual customer comes in and wants to purchase a vehicle, or someone has to solve a spe- cific trucking problem, and they are anxious about the purchase. We help them, and they become repeat custom- ers over the years. Sometimes their children grow up and be- come customers, too. We have commercial businesses and fami - lies that we’ve done business with for more than one generation. My best day is creating and being part of these long-last - ing relationships. t T he Matheny Motor Truck Company has always been involved with community outreach. Still, the current COVID-19 pandemic has made it especially important to keep em - ployees and customers safe. A large part of that involves good communication. Monica Matheny, who is in charge of community outreach for the Matheny Truck Group, said, “Mike and Tim’s at - titude from the beginning was for us to do whatever it takes. We invested tens of thousands of dollars immediately. If Mike or anyone else heard that some - one needed something, we provided it. If we heard about someone dealing with a hardship, we did our best to help. Plexiglas barriers went up imme - diately, and we were doing contactless delivery before it became a thing. We offered door-to-door service, and we protected our people as if they were first responders. When customers re - alized how hard we were trying to get pandemic supplies, they brought the supplies to us.” She shared the follow - ing examples: • One customer knew that Matheny Motors was wiping every car for ev - ery customer, and dropped by with a case of disinfectant wipes. • Another customer donated a batch of face shields. • At the Charleston location, a restau - rant dropped off pizzas. At the start of the school year, Matheny Motors outfitted the teacher’s lounge at a local elementary school. They stocked the room with an ample sup - ply of hand sanitizers and supplies to take a little pressure off the teach - ers so they wouldn’t have to buy the supplies themselves or worry about having enough. Matheny Motors also offers free service and car washes for first responders in the communi - ty. Since one customer makes potato chips, Matheny Motors donated some of the customer’s chips to a hospital. Monica found out there was a nitrile glove shortage, and she made sure Matheny Motors donated what they had in stock. Matheny Motors has two different cli - enteles: commercial truck stores and auto stores. It has been classified as an essential business because of what it sells. Although the employees are not doctors or nurses, they sell fire trucks and ambulances, fix the trucks that deliver supplies to hospitals, and sell other trucks that carry goods all over America. Matheny Motors has taken care of its 350 employees and their fami - lies. If someone needed to be home, co-workers would drop off work and then pick it up again later so that the person at home didn’t have to leave the house. “We just cared for each other,” said Monica. “I’m proud of the employees in all 12 of the communities where we are located. They didn’t tell Outreach Community continued from the previous page