Home » Whayne Supply named 2012 Agribusiness of the Year, celebrates 100 years in 2013

Whayne Supply named 2012 Agribusiness of the Year, celebrates 100 years in 2013

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 31, 2012) — Whayne Supply Co., a 100-year-old Louisville-based dealer in commercial and agricultural machinery, received named the 2012 Kentucky Agribusiness of the Year.

Monty Boyd, left, president and CEO of Whayne Supply Co., receives the 2012 Agribusiness of the Year award.

The award, sponsored by the Agribusiness Industry Network, was presented to company president Monty Boyd during the annual Farm-City Luncheon at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Now in its 20th year, the Agribusiness of the Year award honors a Louisville-area agribusiness that excels in financial growth and stability, employee retention and contributions to the overall agricultural community.

Whayne Supply Co. dates to 1913, when founder Roy Whayne Sr. began selling light engines, pumps, wheelbarrows and bicycles in a small downtown Louisville shop. The modest start-up firm took a major step forward in 1920, when it signed on to represent the Holt Manufacturing Co. Five years later, Holt merged with the Best Co. to form Caterpillar Tractor Co., and Whayne began its long-term association with Caterpillar.

That pattern of growth began under the guidance of the company’s founder and continued to strengthen after Roy Whayne Jr. became president in 1966 and chairman in 1974.

As the product lines expanded, so did the customer base, until Whayne in 2000 formed an Agri-Business Division to more effectively focus on its agricultural clients and their mechanical needs. In the past 12 years, that division has mushroomed from three employees to nearly 50, offering product brands Lexion, Challenger, RoGator, Demco and Topcon, as well as a full line of Caterpillar loaders, dozers and handlers.

In 2008, Boyd purchased Whayne Supply from the third generation of the Whayne family. He and the overall management team continue to build on the firm’s century of growth and success.

Today’s company directory boasts some 1,400 employees, 75 percent of whom work in the parts and services departments.