Demand and production pick up for ETX company
Published: Jan. 4, 2013 at 11:14 PM CST|Updated: Mar. 5, 2013 at 11:14 PM CST
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TROUP, TX (KLTV) - An East Texas company is back on its feet after feeling the effects of the economic fallout.
KLTV first told you about Motor Trike Incorporated in 2006, when the company was booming, expanding their workforce and workspace.
The owner worked with a team of engineers to design and manufacture a new kind of trike, a type of three-wheeled motorcycle. The result? Stallion, a big seller.
But then, like many companies across the nation, Motor Trike took a hit in 2008 and they had to completely stop the production of the Stallion.
However, business has picked up, and now they are re-introducing the vehicle they spent so much time putting on the market.
It all started in 1995, when Jeff Vey approached his wife with an idea - a risky one. He wanted to manufacture trikes.
"She said 'Baby, if this is what you want then we'll do this,'" Vey recalled his wife saying when he told her about his idea to launch the business.
"We had four teenage children at the time, so this was not a small gamble. About five minutes passed and then she said 'Baby, I have one question. What's a trike?' And then from there we started," Vey said with a smile.
Vey grew his business from two employees to about 74. Then, he had another idea. He wanted to create a trike unlike any other. Vey got together with his team of engineers and together they drew up a design for what they now call the Stallion.
"No one had a motorcycle out there with an automatic transmission or any creature comforts. So, we went ahead and designed this with an automatic."
The Stallion also has automated pedals, heating, air conditioning and several other features.
"We made it the most luxurious motorcycle in the world," Vey said.
Vey said the company sold about 700 of the Stallions in three days, but then it all came to a halt.
"in a span of four weeks in October, the banking world changed. So, all of our dealers lost their floor plan ability, they lost their new bike financing and most importantly they lost their used bike financing. So, in a span of four weeks, we loss 1,670 orders," Vey explained.
The company made the decision to stop production for two years, but a couple of months ago the demand picked back up and so did production.
"The fact that we did it, made them successful and then fired up again you know, in the darkest economic times since the 30's and you're up and rolling? I mean, I'm so proud of the people here that made it happen," Vey said.
His employees include several families like Piper and Marty Woodruff. The couple grew up in Rusk and were high school sweethearts, now married with six kids. The couple works in different departments of the company.
Marty explained that this is usually the slow time of the year, but not this year.
"We are still very busy. So, that's great news, especially in this economy," Marty said.
"You know, let's be honest, no one needs anything we make here. Everything we make is toys. The experience you have to have our company has to be so great that people want to spend their money on what they do," explained J.D. Vey, Operations Manager for the company.
And Vey said here at this East Texas company, they have the best of the best.
Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.
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