Like Mother, Like Son
When Janet Mathis asks her son how work went today, she means it. And she gets it. Mathis and her son, Walker Dailey, both work for AgTrust Farm Credit. She’s director of operations in the lending co‑op’s Fort Worth administrative office. He’s a loan officer in the Denton credit office. But their relationship with AgTrust Farm Credit runs deeper than their jobs. In fact, Farm Credit has played a central role in their lives since they were children; each grew up in a home financed by Farm Credit.
Farm Credit roots run deep
In Mathis’ case, her parents became customers over 50 years ago. They built a home on their peanut farm and ranch near De Leon and financed it with Farm Credit. When she was ready to build her own house in 1996, her father recommended she contact his Farm Credit lender. Remarkably, she says, “I used the same loan officer in 1996 as he did in 1968.” Mathis and Dailey’s ag roots stem from Mathis’ father, who farmed peanuts and hay along with a cow-calf operation. Over the years the family transitioned out of peanut farming to just hay and a cow-calf operation. After a long career in the healthcare industry, Mathis joined AgTrust Farm Credit in 2001 as controller. Back then, it was not unusual for her little boy to visit the Weatherford office where she worked. Dailey still remembers running up and down the office halls.
Part‑time job becomes full time
The summer after Dailey finished high school, he was hired as a part‑time clerical assistant in the Weatherford office. “He told Pam [Van Horn] and me that he would never get an office job,” says Mathis, who also served as director of accounting for several years. “Not only did he get an office job, he got an office job at AgTrust!” He continued working part time for AgTrust, doing clerical and janitorial work while earning his finance degree at Howard Payne University. “I worked my way up from janitor,” says Dailey. His original career plans didn’t include AgTrust Farm Credit or finance. However, after some wise words from senior credit experts, Tommy Keith and Jim Bob Reynolds, he reconsidered. Upon graduation, Dailey joined the staff full time as a credit analyst in the Fort Worth office. “You can’t say enough about the employees here,” Dailey says. “They are great people and very tight knit. We all have the same mission of providing a great product to our customers. That product is a better living in the country.”
Customers and workers are the best
As for his mom, Mathis says coming to work for AgTrust Farm Credit was the best decision she ever made. And she agrees with Dailey that the best part of working at AgTrust Farm Credit is the people — both her co‑workers and customers. Of course, there’s one employee she’s especially grateful to work with. “Walker amazes me. He knocks my socks off every day,” says Mathis. Dailey also appreciates the opportunity to work with his mother. When he joined AgTrust, “our friendship took off,” he says. “We are best friends, and I can thank AgTrust for that.