Intermountain Auto Recycling
198 N Yellowstone Hwy, Rigby, Idaho, United States

Intermountain Auto Recycling has been "ministering to human needs" since February of 1992 under Hyrum Boone's ownership, but his history goes deeper than that. Hyrum grew up around Union Motors, a used car lot that introduced him to his future, the business of used cars and parts.

In 1976, as a young father, Hyrum began working for a local truck specialist, Holst Truck Parts, where he spent six-and-a-half years dismantling vehicles, answering phones, and running inventory. He then moved to Dale's Auto where he had similar responsibilities as managaer, again dismantling vehicles, answering phones, and running the inventory. After around six years Dale's sold to Marler's. Hyrum spent about three more years there before going out on his own. Hyrum found Lynn Smith and IAR. In December 1991, he began running the buiness, then took over entirely in February of the next year. The contract was written for twenty years, a time that has expired. The down payment had to be borrowed on a three-year note. Hyrum finally owned 223 cars, a seldom-ringing phone, and the business he had prayed for. Even an answered prayer made more prayers necessary, though, as the first three-and-a-half years were rocky at best, being one mistake away from complete failure.

In answer to Hyrum's prayer, a man by the name of Don Okelberry came along with $600 in his pocket, and an unnatural willingness to help the struggling young business. The $600 finished Intermountain's taxes, and Don spent a day diagnosing its needs. He told Hyrum that he and his wife, Ramona, would work for one year, expecting $10,000 as payment only if the business succeeded! Hyrum regards Don as the reason for Intermountain's survival, but for its growth and recent success, the credit goes to his sons, each one bringing new ideas and abilities to the table.

The business, in Hyrum's mind, was much more than a business; it was a place for his family to work and function together, which has proven incredibly successful so far. Most of his sixteen children have spent significant time with the business, including Rupp, Todd, Dale, Legrand, James, and Adam, his oldest sons who currently work full-time. Other children and grandchildren help out in seasonal and part-time positions.

Intermountain didn't grow significantly until Hyrum's sons were able to work full-time, but then the growth took off, leading to multiple new steel buildings (all built by Hyrum's brother, Michael, and his family), including a new office and a modernized dismantling bay, a second functioning yard in Salmon, Idaho, and an award from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality naming Intermountain Auto "Pollution Prevention Champion." Returning customers will notice a cleaner and more organized yard with no more mobile homes as warehouses, no more piles of disorganized parts, and a ten-foot fence surrounding it.

These and other accomplishments have made Hyrum and his sons proud, but by no means content to stay where they are. They plan to become more efficient with every passing day, and to continue expanding to serve more people's needs, while still caring for the needs of those in the Eastern Idaho area, whether it be a long-time loyal customer or a new friend to be made.