2008 ABA Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Frank M. Henry

Now celebrating 100 years of operations, the Martz Group, headlined by its Martz Trailways brand, has seen tremendous growth and helped to elevate industry service standards through an unprecedented commitment to safety and customer service as well as through its investment in the local community. This growth has been spearheaded by Martz's Chairman & CEO, and this year's ABA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Mr. Frank M. Henry.

Known as "The Builder", Mr. Henry has led a controlled expansion of the Martz Group to include six major motorcoach companies providing a variety of bus transportation services from terminal facilities and garage operations ranging from New York City to Tampa, FL using over 250 buses and employing nearly 500 employees, and more than doubling the size of Martz's operations under his leadership the past 49 years.

Mr. Henry has long been known for his keen eye for profitable investments, and nearly as well for his generosity and willingness to give back. A veteran of the United States Air Force and a former Boy Scout, Mr. Henry has been deeply involved with the Wilkes-Barre, PA community where Martz is headquartered throughout his tenure at Martz. Along with his lovely wife Dottie, Mr. Henry has made a significant impact in the Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley communities through his generous contributions to several educational institutions and foundations, as well as the Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA, the United Way, Geisinger Health System, and the Salvation Army, even earning the highest civilian honor from the national charity with the "Others Award". He also helped found the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, PA and has engendered patriotic spirit with the dedication of the Martz Pavilion in Kirby Park and Martz Trailways' sponsorship of the annual July 4th presentation by the Wilkes-Barre Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to developing his family business into a world-class transportation corporation and making landmark contributions to his community, Mr. Henry has also been a guiding force for several of the motorcoach industry's leading associations. He has served as a Board member and also Chairman of the Pennsylvania Bus Association as well as Gray Line Worldwide, and was twice elected the Chairman of Trailways Bus System. Mr. Henry has been a member of the ABA Board for over 30 years and was ABA's first operator-elected Chairman of the Board in 1989. He has also served ABA as Past Chairman and Secretary-Treasurer, and has been a long-time member of the ABA Foundation's Board of Governors.

Mr. Henry has also been heavily involved in the evolution of ABA's Marketplace and has been an essential bridge between the interests of scheduled service line haul carriers and those of charter bus and sightseeing tour providers. In fact, he served on the committee that first conceived the Marketplace concept, and has also served as Marketplace Chairman on two occasions: first in 1983 in New Orleans and again as Chairman of the first Marketplace in the western U.S. in1984 in Salt Lake City. Mr. Henry has remained engaged in the selection of Marketplace locations, as Chair of the Board's Time and Place Committee, which is the committee charged with determining the venue, timing and geographic location of the association's meetings including Marketplace.

Mr. Henry continues to lead the Martz Group, now in its third and fourth generation of family leadership and has helped Martz Trailways emerge as a standard bearer for excellence in the motorcoach industry, operating on the simple precept of providing safe, reliable and courteous service.

2008 ABA Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree - Frank M. Henry [1]