The president and several top-level managers of Whayne Supply visited Columbia last week as a possible site for a new retail and service center.
Close to 200 people gathered at Lindsey Wilson College’s Cranmer Dining Center to meet Whayne President Monty Boyd and other company officials. The “meet and greet” was held in conjunction with a meeting of the Adair County Cattlemen’s Association.
Local farmers and construction contractors were in the audience, all potential customers should Whayne decide to bring a location to Columbia. Several elected officials attended the meeting. County Judge Executive Ann Melton, magistrates Billy Coffey, Billy Rowe and Joe Rogers were in attendance, along with city council member June Parson. Tony Corbin, a member of the local economic development board, was also in attendance.
Prior to the public gathering, Whayne officials met with a group of local farmers and business leaders who have spearheaded an effort to bring agricultural industry to Adair County. They heard presentations from county extension agent Nick Roy and teacher Heather Spoon. Roy shared statistics with the group but also talked about some of the county’s top farmers. Spoon, a teacher with a mechanical engineering degree, provided an overview of the community and connected well with Boyd, who also has a mechanical engineering degree.
During the cattlemen’s meeting, Boyd provided a presentation about Whayne, a company that celebrated 100 years in 2013.
During the Whayne family’s ownership of the company, Boyd became chairman of the board. He purchased the company in 2008 with the formation of the Boyd Company, LLC. Under his leadership the company continues to grow and now includes 16 locations in Kentucky and southern Indiana, providing 1,300 jobs.
The company is considering a new location in this region and is gathering information about Columbia, Glasgow and Danville. Current locations include Somerset and Bowling Green.
Whayne is a Caterpillar dealership, sells, rebuilds and refurbishes CAT equipment and is a dealership for numerous lines of equipment used for agriculture, construction, buses, mining and power, with brands such as Genie, STIHL, Agco and Massey Ferguson available.
Boyd said the company considers numerous issues when choosing a location, such as population and market analysis. Geographic distance is critical, he added.
Local farmers and agribusiness leaders who are encouraging Whayne to locate here said company officials were impressed with the community support they witnessed last week.
Mark Dykes, a local banker and a new member to the local economic development authority board, told board members Tuesday morning about the visit.
“They were impressed,” Dykes said. “They liked the community.”
There was no word on when the company would make its decision.
