Matheny Motor Truck Company was founded in 1922, and will soon be 100 years old. Tim Matheny, the company’s current president, plans to celebrate the centennial during the entire year.

The company is now in its fourth generation 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 company 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 University, where he made many friends he did business with later. Coursework involved 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 polymers. He came back during a time when people were retiring and he was needed. “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 Spiker, 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 business program. Also, Tim started working for Cary Curry and Craig Richards at Curry 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 marketing director. Tim and Monica’s oldest son, Christopher, is 24, has a marketing 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 enjoys the two family dogs; golden retrievers named Bailey and Mac.

Andrew is 9 years old and in fourth grade at an excellent school. He is too young to decide what he wants to do with his life, but he’s enthusiastic about the family business and helps with community outreach. He already has business cards that identify him as the VP of sales, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get a chance to choose, the same way his father and grandfather did. Like any good father, Tim wants his son to have a happy, fulfilled life and supports Andrew’s future choices. He said, “If Andrew doesn’t want to get into the business, we’ll run it as long as I want to, and then we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

Tim never knew his great-grandfather, who died before he was born, but he was close to his grandfather and spent a lot of time with him during his last months. His father, Mike, has also been a great mentor. Mike says he respects his son’s business acumen and work ethic and just wants him to continue doing what he’s doing.

Outside the family, Tim has been close to two particular friends, Sam and Susan Ross. Susan’s grandparents were friends with Tim’s grandparents and were sometimes customers, too. He calls Sam and Susan humble, successful individuals who, apart from his father, have been his most significant mentors. They are also Andrew’s godparents.

Interests Community Service

Mike has always been involved in community service but has been trying to cut back in recent years. Early in his career, he was involved with the Jaycees. He also served on many boards. Mike is now down to being on only one board, the local economic development authority.

Under Tim’s direction, the company supports many different organizations: the Boy Scouts, the Boy’s and Girl’s club, the YMCA, and organizations to help people with physical and mental disabilities. Customers have come to Tim and Monica with the names of organizations they want the company to support, and the family has tried to be good partners with these customers. With respect to the Boy Scouts, Andrew is a scout, and Mike was also very active. The local chapters and troops have a high participation rate, and Tim is proud to support them.