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Lehighton Ford to temporarily close business to all services

A local car dealership has opted to temporarily close its business to all services effective at 5 o’clock today as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

At that time, Lehighton Ford Inc., in Lehighton, will close the business to all services until it’s permitted to expand its services, according to Bill Klepeiss, general manager.

“Up until close of business, we have been operating in accordance with the directions received from the PA governor’s office,” Klepeiss said. “Simply stated, we were allowed to perform vehicle maintenance services and sell parts.”

Klepeiss added, “given the downturn in business, we have decided to temporarily close the business to all services at 5 o’clock until we are permitted to expand our services.

“We have done everything possible to retain our employees and pay them, as well as cover medical expenses during this difficult time. But at this point, as with other local businesses, we are concerned about ongoing operations costs and need to keep reserves to reopen the business shortly.”

Klepeiss said the dealership applied for the SBA loan through the PPP program, but was not successful in obtaining one in the first round.

“We do believe that we will be funded with the next round of money made available, and as soon as we have more information, we will announce our plans. “We do intend to be open again very soon.”

In the meantime, Klepeiss said the vehicles will remain on the lot.

“Ford’s been generous enough to give us deferred payments on interest charges, things like that,” he said. “We’ll have until the end of the year to pay it off.”

Klepeiss added, “My biggest concern all along was I recognized some of these people don’t have a lot of money; they have families to feed. That’s why we stretched things as far as we could.

“We’ve got to be prepared to reopen; we’ve asked people to take a layoff, including me,” he said. “We’re going to get back on our feet as fast as we can.”

Klepeiss added, “We will use the grant money to get our people back working for us. Our staff has been very, very upbeat; at the end of the day, these people are resilient people.

“They want to come back and hit the street running.”

Sales manager Gary Salijko, left, and finance manager Michael Neeb, right, look over vehicles on the car lot at Lehighton Ford Inc. in Lehighton on Thursday afternoon. As of 5 o'clock today, the dealership will close the business to all services until it's permitted to expand its services. TERRY AHNER/TIMES NEWS