BUSINESS
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
herMIsTOnheraLd.cOM • A7
Middle East immigrant builds car dealership
city auto sales grew
from 40 cars to over 100
By ERICK PETERSON
hermiston herald
Music, food and prizes
were all part of an immi-
grant business owner’s cel-
ebration of success Friday,
March 25, at City Auto Sales,
Hermiston.
Hundreds of balloons
adorning the new building
at 80857 N. Highway 395.
There was a DJ, two food
trucks and tables of pastries
at the dealership. Some of
the cookies had the name and
logo of the business on them
in icing. There were games
and a large pile of prizes.
People aplenty enjoyed
the music and food, and the
owner was in the middle of it.
“I like this town,” dealer-
ship owner Mohammed Jaber
said. “When I came from my
country, I came to this town.
The people in this town were
very nice, and I’m happy to
do business in this town.”
Jaber came to this coun-
try 14 years ago from Pales-
tine. A Tri-Cities resident, he
opened businesses in Herm-
iston, starting with a stereo
shop, selling it and then open-
ing his car dealership.
His wife, Jasmine Jaber,
was present at the celebration.
“It’s exciting, especially
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Nathaly Hernandez, office manager, and Mohammed Jaber, City Auto Sales owner, stand next to a Chevy Camaro in the
showroom Friday, March 25, 2022.
for him, and where he came
from,” she said. “He came to
America to build and become
successful. It took him a
while; it took work.”
She added her husband
is happy to be enjoying the
fruits of his labor, and she
said she is excited for him.
Meanwhile, she said,
she is busy, too. A full-time
mother to their six children,
she said they have their
hands full.
Employee Alex Wakid
described the stunning
growth of City Auto Sales.
He said the dealership
started “very small” around
five years ago. Then, he
said, there was only a trailer
for two offices and 40 cars
for sale. There were five
employees when Wakid
arrived.
“With hard work and
ethic, all of our employees
putting in the work, we have
gotten to where we are now.”
Now, the dealership has
105 cars for sale on site and
13 employees.
City Auto Sales moved
into its new building three
months ago while its con-
struction was in the final
stages. Now, with all the
work done, management felt
the time was right for the
party March 25.
Other dealership employ-
ees said weather and the
coronavirus also delayed the
revelry.
Wakid has been with the
business through much of
the growth. Every day, he
said, he commutes from the
Tri-Cities. He said he started
as a sales manager more than
a year-and-a-half ago, before
being promoted to general
manager.
Around for a bit longer
than Wakid, Nathaly Her-
nandez, office manager, said
she was working at City
Auto Sales since the very
beginning. At the start, she
said, the business was just
the owner and her.
“When we got here, it
was just dirt,” she said, as
she waved her arm across a
parking lot, filled with cars.
“We finally made it,” Her-
nandez said. “We worked
really hard for this, and we
are so glad that it is here.”
Because of City Auto
Sales’ success, Mohammed
Jaber said he is thinking of
opening a second dealership,
possibly in Washington.
“You never know, you
know,” he said. “I hope.
We’ll see how things work
here.”
New Dollar General adds more jobs, makes donation
store plans to donate 100 books
to local elementary school
hermiston herald
Dollar General announced the
opening of its store at 1206 W.
Highland Ave., Hermiston.
A press release states the store
intended to employ approximately
six to 10 people, depending on its
needs, and that employees were to
be given competitive wages and
benefits.
Dollar General carries household
essentials, including food, cleaning
supplies, paper products, over-the-
counter medicines, hygiene prod-
ucts and baby items. Also, it sells
home decor and an expanded party
preparation selection.
“At Dollar General, we believe
the addition of each new store pro-
vides positive economic growth for
the communities we proudly serve,
and the addition of our new Herm-
iston store highlights our commit-
ment to deliver a pleasant shop-
ping experience that includes great
prices on quality products in a con-
venient location,” said Dan Nieser,
Dollar General’s senior vice presi-
dent of real estate and store devel-
opment. “We look forward to wel-
coming customers to our new store
and hope they will enjoy shopping
at our new location.”
Dollar General stated its
plans to donate 100 new books
to a nearby elementary school
to benefit students ranging from
energytrust.org
kindergarten to fifth grade.
Through the partnership with
the Kellogg Company, the dona-
tion was part of a planned donation
of more than 100,000 books across
the country to celebrate new Dollar
General store openings.
“The addition of the Hermis-
ton store opens the opportunity for
schools, nonprofit organizations and
libraries within a 15-mile radius of
the store to apply for Dollar Gen-
eral Literacy Foundation grants,”
the press release states. It adds, since
1993, “the Dollar General Literacy
Foundation has awarded more than
$203 million in grants to nonprofit
organizations, helping more than
14.8 million individuals take their
first steps toward literacy or contin-
ued education.”
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
A banner on the front of Dollar General, Monday, March 28, 2022, gives
notice to passersby that the store is open.