December 11, 2023
A big Weiser welcome to Smith Auto of Weiser who recently purchased Hometown Motors company here in Weiser. Cannon Smith, owner of Smith Auto of Weiser, is an Idaho native and a fourth generation auto dealership owner. “We have been in the car business for a little over a hundred years now. My great grandfather got started in the car business a long time ago and we have kept it in the family. My grandfather was in the business after that, then my father and so I’m a fourth generation car guy. It’s pretty cool to carry on the tradition,” stated Smith.
Smith shared that he wants the Weiser dealership to be run by people from Weiser, but did bring in a new General Manager, Jake Welker and new CFO Nathan Johns. Smith and his team are excited to get to know Weiser and how they can best serve the community and be involved. Cannon shared, “We love Weiser, it’s pretty much that simple. We were looking for an opportunity that was outside the Idaho Falls area so that we could expand our portfolio a little bit. We love small communities and small towns where we can make a big impact. We wanted to be in a place just like this.” Smith continued stating, “We are working with the team to learn what opportunities there are or what needs there are in the community. To know where we can have an impact.” The Smith Auto team plans to meet with some of the local business owners as well as the schools to learn more about the community and how they can be involved, “There are so many cool small community events that we think we could bring something to the table and want to be a part of. Things like the Weiser Fiddle Festival and Weiser Music Festival, we want to be there.”
Looking towards the future Smith shared that they’re working on getting to know the community and seeing where they stand before they make changes and set goals. Overall the team loves Weiser. “We are excited to be here and be a part of the community. We are looking forward to how we can help. In a small town we want to be able to make a difference. So we hope people will let us know how they think we can best do that.” Jake Welker, General Manager, shared that they understand a community wants a supportive and involved business and that’s what they want to be. “We want to be here to help and we are here to give a service. We are from this kind of place. This feels like what we wanted so we could be involved,” stated Welker. The Smith Auto Team plans to have an Open House for the public to come in meet the team and share their thoughts. They are currently working on a date for the Open House so keep an eye out for that announcement coming soon!
