Dealership sets date to open doors
About 60 employees in Bonners Ferry will be back at their jobs in new buildings in the next few months. Riverside Auto Center and TrussTek lost their major facilities to fires last summer.
Riverside Auto Center, which sells Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles, should be in its two-story, 7,000-square-foot building Feb. 1, according to Bill Hiatt Sr. Originally from Sandpoint, his father, Fran Hiatt, started the Bonners Ferry dealership in 1971 and Bill took ownership in 1974. The family has more than 50 years in the car business. They sold General Motors vehicles until the company downsized nationally. They will have 29 employees in the new place at 6437 Bonner St.
The dealership has a large used vehicle inventory and many customers from Canada and Montana. Hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The service department is open weekdays only. Phone: (208) 267-3100. On the Web: Go to www.riversideauto.com.
TrussTek aims for April opening
Manufacturing all types of floor and roof systems, TrussTek started at Three-Mile Corner in 1990. Originally from El Dorado Springs, Mo., owner Bill Byler joined relatives in Bonners Ferry in 1989. He and sons Ted, Ed, Jeff and Marcus will employ about 35 people in the new, 30,000-square-foot facility in April.
They had a peak of about 70 employees before the economy shifted and the old building burned. Until they’re in the new building, they are operating at half capacity, Bill Byler said. Phone: (208) 267-7471. On the Web: Go to www.trusstek.com and you’ll learn a few new words such as axial, camber and purlin.
All fired up for the New Year
Ceramic crafts and the classes to make them are available at All Fired Up Ceramics & Crafts. The company opened last month at 1913 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene.
Owner Dawn Forest sells greenware and bisqueware all ready to be painted and glazed. (Look “bisque” up also; I thought it was soup or a tennis term.) Finished items include canisters, decorations, animals, vases and dishware. A Coeur d’Alene native, Forest previously held classes through the Parks and Recreation Department.
Classes are for all ages, and evening classes will be added. She has the kilns and the molds. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (closing at 3 p.m. Wednesdays). Phone: (208) 659-0097.
Here’s this week’s tidbits
•Watch for a new company in downtown Coeur d’Alene that sells guns and ammunition. (I shrug at that one with happenings here this past year).
•The 10-cent lower gas prices in Coeur d’Alene mentioned here last week should have been compared to Post Falls, not Spokane. A gas distributor explained that Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls prices differ because of competition among the big box stores in Coeur d’Alene.