PONDERAY — With the turn of a dozen or so shovels, Papé Machinery and Bonner County officials kicked off construction of the company’s newest full-line dealership and service center.

The center will represent the combined product lines of John Deere Ag and Turf and John Deere Construction and Forestry.

“We don’t take investing in new facilities lightly,” Ryan Papé, vice president of Papé Machinery Agriculture & Turf, said at the Aug. 15 groundbreaking. “We do a lot of planning, we do a lot of research and we also don’t make investments like what we’re going to make here in northern Idaho for the short-term — three years, five years, 10 years — we make these investments for generations.”

The state-of-the-art facility is expected to be completed by spring. When completed, the full-line 15,000-square-foot dealership and service center will feature an equipment showroom, parts department, warehouse, and service department with a 10-ton crane and wash rack. The 1.9-acre property joins eight existing Papé Machinery locations in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho and 34 other locations throughout the West.

It will, Papé said, allow the company to better serve its customers in the region and continue its investment in its people, its customers and the communities that Papé serves.

“We’ve been looking forward to this day for quite some time,” he said. “Our family business was founded in the Willamette Valley in 1938, four generations ago, and it has grown over time. We’ve had much success, but the success has always been built on our customers and taking care of our customers.”

Papé said company officials are excited to kick off the center’s construction, adding it will allow them to take care of two significant customer bases in North Idaho, ag and turf and construction and forestry.

“Both are an economic driver in this area so we are very excited about that,” he added.

The decision to build the center was not one the company took lightly, that investments such as this are based on a long-term approach — one based on generations and customers than on short-term gain.

“The point is today, we’re putting our shovels in the ground, we’re going to make a difference, all of us together, and we’re going to make this area a great place to take care of our customers,” Papé said.

When completed, the center will be the authorized John Deere Agriculture & Turf equipment dealer in Northern Idaho, said Papé,.

“We’re investing in a larger facility to provide a higher level of service, better product support and more equipment inventory for our customers in this region.”

The building is designed by Gary Caperna of JB Steel Inc., and is being built by JB Steel Inc. The grand opening for Papé’s Northern Idaho full-line dealership and service center is set for spring 2018.

Information: pape.com