10 West Motorsports In Indio Goes To City For Loan

Ten West Motorsports in Indio is going through some tough times. That’s why they’re going to the city for help, to the tune of $180,000.

“Our sales were off about30% to40% last year, but in specific months like December, we were off by over 50% which is one of our biggest months,” says Ken Durr, owner of 10 West Motorsports.

The business specializes in motorcycle and off-road vehicle sales, which have taken a hit during a time when people are not spending as much on recreation. Shrinking consumer credit means big-ticket items like new motorcycles, quads and ATV’s are hurtingthebusiness.

“They’re not upgrading to the latest machine and that’s evidenced by our service department. They’re working, getting their motorcycles fixed here and riding them longer,” Durr says.

Loaning money is nothing new to the city of Indio, it approved a loan to the Jackalope Ranch off Highway 111. The money would come from the city’s redevelopment agency loan fund.

“There’s collateral from a piece of property that they own in Palm Desert that does have equity in it of $500,000 so that loan amount, if they were to default, would be covered by that,” says assistant city manager Mark Wasserman.

If approved, it would help keep the business open for at least another year until the economy gets better. Customers think it’s a good idea.

“It would be nice to be able to keep the people employed, keep the building occupied…it’s the only one like it here in the area…the next closest that I know of, Chapparrel, all the way over in San Bernardino,” says Corey Blackburn.

The loan still needs the okay from the city council. The loan would have to be repaid withinseven years.