McAneny Brothers, headquartered in Ebensburg, were honored with the Distinguished Family Business Award by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Center for Family Business at the annual awards ceremony on April 10, 2018.
McAneny Brothers is a full-service convenience and grocery store distributor offering online ordering and next-day delivery throughout Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern Maryland, central and northern West Virginia, and south and western New York.
McAneny Brothers headquarters is on 19.5 acres in the Cambria County Industrial Park. With 310 employees, McAneny Brothers is now located in a 172,000-square-foot building and owns and operates three grocery stores. There are seven family members from the second generation of the family working at McAneny Brothers, and four of them have attended IUP.
McAneny Brothers started in 1979 when Steve, Tom, and Joe McAneny purchased Helsel Wholesale, a 3,000-square-foot storefront that sold tobacco, confections, and novelty items for carnivals and local fairs. The McAneny and Helsel families were neighbors in the 8th Ward section of Johnstown.
Steve and Tom each worked after school and summers for Harry and Mary Jo Helsel. After purchasing the business in 1979, and as each brother in turn finished school, they chose to stay with the business. Each went on the road, calling on customers, visiting stores, and finding sources for requested items. As the years went by, the brothers sold the novelty part of the business to concentrate on food distribution. The company expanded several times over the years as they entered into the produce business and other areas of distribution.
In 1997, a new building was built and has been expanded a number of times to accommodate McAneny Brothers' growing distribution business.
A tree was dedicated with a permanent plaque and installed in the Allegheny Arboretum at IUP in the family's honor.