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Austin’s newest tire center has opened its doors.

After nearly a year of construction and development, Les Schwab Tire Center, located at 1901 Fourth Street NW, opened for the first time on Wednesday.

The nine linear bay store is one of the largest Les Schwab locations in the Midwest and brings with it not just an aim to work for the customer but the community as a whole.

“We’re very heavily based in the community,” said Cody Bouma, store manager. “A majority of our store locations are in smaller towns. We’re very focused in trying to give back as much as we can.”

As a company, Les Schwab has been in business for over 70 years and started when the namesake of the business, Les Schwab, bought a tire franchise in Prineville, Oregon in 1952. Since then, the company consists of 581 stores, including the Austin location.

One of the things Schwab believed in the most was valuing both the customer and employee.

“One thing that Les Schwab, from day one, has always held true is you take care of customers, you take care of your employees and then you take care of profits,” Bouma said. “Take care of those first two things, the third thing will organically grow and you don’t have to worry about it.”

To that end, the new tire center offers a line of services to the customer including wheels, tires, suspension, alignment and oil changes. Bouma said that the only things it doesn’t do is engine work, exhaust work and electrical.

Vehicles of many shapes and sizes are included in this service from cars and trucks up to semis, agriculture vehicles and heavy industrial vehicles.

While the regular, every-day vehicles are handled in one of the nine bays, heavier work like semis are done beneath a canopy on the north side of business.

The Austin location features 11 employees, not counting Bouma and the assistant manager, hired out of over 175 applicants.

As to why Les Schwab decided on Austin for a location, Bouma said it really came down to the community itself.

“(Les Schwab) really likes to see that community engagement because that’s something we’re big in,” he said. “It’s nice to go into a community that is already supporting each other.”

To that end, Les Schwab is looking to build connections with community organizations. Already it’s contributed a sponsorship to the Austin Bruins and it’s hoping to be able to support Austin’s schools as well.

While the company has stated that it is excited to be in Austin, it got off to something of an auspicious start with Wednesday’s blizzard. However, Bouma said the location took the chance to go out into the community and see what they could do.

That included offering free services to the employees of surrounding businesses for things like tire rotations and inspections, even offering to pick up the vehicle and bring it back when it’s done.

“If we’re going to stand here and do nothing, we’re going to give free service and help some people out,” Bouma said. “A lot of people didn’t know we were open. It was a good way for word to spread that we are ready to go and  help the community.”

A grand opening celebration will be held March 21-22, with a ribbon cutting on March 21 and if the weather cooperates, food vendors will be on hand as well.