Motor Trike conversions. From the first, they had a lot of fence-mending to do. A lot of customers had issues to resolve. Suppliers were unhappy, dealers were unhappy, competitors were disparaging. The Veys went out of their way to make things right for all their stakeholders. "Once we knew how serious things were, we knew what we had to do," says Diane. "We believe there's only one way to do business, and that's to do things right. You treat everybody the way you hope they'll treat you, and you make things right." Sure enough, having taken the high ground, the Veys were confirmed when people quickly caught on to how sincere they were then, and how hard they continue to work to this day to earn and retain customer loyalty.                                   
    I asked Jeff Vey why, in a world dominated by businesses driven by bean-counting and bottom lines, being nice seemed to be the hallmark of  Motor Trike's culture. With a gleam

 in his eye, Jeff leaned a bit closer and said in reply, "What I'd like to know is why that's not the way all businesses are run. For us, that's the only way. It's the right way, simple as that."
     Apparently, the Vey formula for success is working. With about ten years in the business, the company has grown like spring blue bonnets along the roadside leading to their plant. No longer in a cramped, dowdy 1800-square-foot storefront in Troup, a rail-side town where a fourway stop sign is all the traffic control needed downtown, Motor Trike is fairly bursting its seams out in the country. Located on a typical, winding, East Texas country road, the plant was once a slaughterhouse for local ranchers' steers. Today, Motor Trike has expanded that slaughterhouse to a handsome campus, punctuated by two twostory buildings clad in pinstripe gray-suit siding. Beyond the freshly-cut lawns are adjoining farms, ranches and stands of oaks and white pine.                                       

As good as business has been-indeed, Jeff has carefully monitored double-digit growth for the past eight out of nine years-its success still extracts a significant toll. The Veys work many long hours, both on the rally trail and at home. Several years ago, Jeff & Diane sold their house in Tyler and moved into a modest second floor suite above the administrative offices. Talk about living with your work! Early rising Diane is often downstairs at her desk before dawn, and night-owl Jeffrey is often still at his desk late at night. On Sunday mornings, they go to church; on Sunday afternoons, Jeff mows the lawn around the plant. As he sees it, it's his grass to mow. Do they regret the pace? Not at all. "We are incredibly blessed," they say. "We got where we are today by the grace of God, faith in our products and the most incredible, talented people in the world working with us." Based on their precise work as well as the mutual respect and affection I witnessed among all the employees