Barber Brothers Mitsubishi, a car dealership under construction at 45 W. 1300 South and owned by brothers Chuck, Sam, Fred and John Barber, will open next month. They also own dealerships in Bountiful and Spanish Fork.
The 8,500 square-foot facility will offer service, parts and sales of new and used automobiles. About 25 employees will be hired.Starting with a Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealership in Morgan in 1981, the Barber brothers expanded to Spanish Fork to sell Chryslers, Plymouths and Dodges in 1984 and added Chevrolets at that location in 1987. Last year, they opened a Pontiac and Oldsmobile dealership in Bountiful and now have 80 employees.
Chuck Barber said, "We chose to expand because Mitsub-ishi Motors is the fastest growing import car company in the country and Orem is the perfect location because of its strong interest in small business."
Deseret Certified Development Co. financed $450,000 of the new dealership through a Small Business Administration 504 loan, West One Bank loaned an additional $450,000 and the owners provided the remainder of the nearly $1 million project.
Kevin Scholz, a Springville architect, designed the building, which is being constructed by Don Craig Construction of Salt Lake City.