Eric Neise sat on the back porch with his son as they watched the brilliant lightning storm one Friday night. Glowing spider-webs flickered against the dark sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance.  

It was Sept. 12, 2025 — a date Neise won’t soon forget.  

When his phone started to buzz with an incoming call, he sent it to voicemail. He didn’t want to interrupt this special moment with his kid.  

Then another call came in. And another. Agitated by the interruption, he finally picked up.  

“Your building’s on fire,” his friend said.  

The building was Neise’s used car sale business, Elite Auto Sales, at 2385 U.S.  93 in Kalispell, right across from Murdoch’s. A bolt of lightning had struck the internet pole atop the farmhouse his office space was in. 

Neise jumped into his truck as soon as he hung up.  

Firefighters were putting out another blaze in a nearby neighborhood by the time he arrived. He waited a mind-numbing 30 minutes as bright orange flames consumed the wooden structure. When fire engines finally emerged on scene, fire personnel hosed the blaze for a few minutes before their stores were depleted. It took 20 minutes for another engine to come by.  

But the building was already charred beyond recognition.  

“I just thought this must be over,” Neise said. “How are we going to recover from this?”   

He opened Elite Auto Sales, a small family-owned business, with his wife and father-in-law on June 2, 2021. Before he was an entrepreneur, Neise worked in the car sale industry for almost a decade. He was a salesman for five years and a general manager for three years.  

But he grew tired of the tricks and games the company played, Neise said.  

“I knew we were taking advantage of [customers],” he said. “I finally told my wife, I can’t go to sleep at night. I can’t do this anymore.” 

Elite Auto Sales specializes in helping people rebuild their credit through down payment assistance and financing. There's too many predatory lenders who try to take advantage of people, Neise said.  

“We are the opposite,” he said. “We want to lift people up.” 

THE MONDAY after the fire, Neise discovered his broker had underinsured the business. They weren’t getting a dime from insurance, he said.  

Luckily, everything needed to continue the business was saved from the flames, and his landlord moved the office into a temporary building. Neise said it took him a week or two to decompress and remind himself that it’s not the end of the world.   

A few weeks after that fateful night, folks who learned about the tragedy came in to buy a car. Strong community support is what helped keep his business afloat.  

“That meant a lot,” Neise said. “The community stood up for us.” 

As a fifth-generation Flathead County resident, connecting with the locals is a priority for him. Neise grew up in Evergreen, went to Evergreen Elementary School and graduated from high school in Columbia Falls. Prior to becoming a car salesman, he worked as a club DJ for almost every bar in the valley for 20-plus years.  

“When people come here, they know us,” Neise said. “They went to school with us. They've seen us around at restaurants and bars and at football games.” 

When the former Kalispell Hyundai property in Evergreen went on the market earlier this year, Neise jumped at the opportunity. He was ready to become a property owner, and this was a chance to move his business back to his roots.  

“We felt like it was never going to be as good as this ever again,” he said. 

He closed the deal on May 8 and opened the doors a week later. He hired his first employee on May 15 and now has eight full-time workers, two of whom worked for the previous business before Elite Auto moved in.  

The building also has better protection against lightning, but Neise learned his lesson and updated the business insurance.  

“Any time there’s a storm, the hair on the back of my neck starts to stand up,” he said.  Elite Auto is located at 2030 U.S.  2 in Evergreen. For more information, visit eliteautosalesmt.com.  

Report for America Reporter Hannah Shields can be reached at 406-758-4439 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.