POCATELLO — It was Feb. 1, 2016, in Pocatello, and recently retired Arturo “Art” Beery and his wife, Nicky, were enjoying the quiet comfort of a small town and the view of lingering hills bordering the high desert valley they now called home. Despite having just arrived from big-city Chicago, they were already making plans for their next move.

Beery’s marriage has consisted of 29 moves, all in the name of chasing opportunity in the transportation business. His 30 years with General Motors (GM) led him everywhere from Philadelphia to Alaska and many places in between. 

“When you have a career that is really your way of life, it’s kind of hard to retire from that,” Beery said. 

Beery became general manager of Cole Chevrolet, another GM dealership. The couple — influenced by Pocatello’s charm — decided to stay put for nine years.

Cole Chevrolet bought Pocatello Nissan Kia in 2021, naming it Cole Nissan Kia. Beery then became the executive manager for Cole Nissan Kia. 

In the last year, Cole Nissan Kia has sold 625 vehicles and Cole Chevrolet sold 775. 

“In the mid-'90s I was working at the Idaho GMAC,” Beery said. “I lived in Boise and just fell in love with Idaho and always thought someday I’d be back, so here I am.”

For most of his career, Beery worked in the wholesale department, manufacturing cars and sending them to dealerships. He explained that it’s typical for banks or the manufacturers to own the cars, not the dealerships, in which case the dealerships pay interest to companies like GMAC. 

After retiring from GM nine years ago, Beery unexpectedly entered the retail side of the auto industry, working with consumers and fixing vehicles. 

“Nothing is the same,” Beery said, adding that as executive manager of Cole Nissan Kia he could be assessing marketing strategies, ordering cars or meeting one-on-one with customers to fix a broken tail light. 

The concerns add up.

“Do you have enough money to pay the bills, are you doing training right, are you making customers happy?” Beery said.

For Craig Hall, a sales manager at Cole Nissan Kia, his day-to-day looks like detailing cars, reviewing deals and chatting with customers. 

“We secure their financing if they are financing and then help see them through the rest of that process,” Hall said. “We are very involved with the customers.” 

Beery recalls encountering a woman during one of his first days at Cole Chevrolet who helped him better understand Southeast Idaho locals. He asked if she was from around here, to which she replied no, she was from Inkom. 

“And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Um, isn’t that, like, the next exit down?’” Beery said. “People here like their hometowns.” 

Beery was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. According to Beery, it is typical in the Philippines to be considered a success if you are in the medical field. 

“I was never interested in that,” Beery said. “Finance, and always being able to deal with people and share ideas with them to try and make people happy, it always fit.” 

Beery said working with cars is a perk despite not classifying himself as a “car guru.” 

“Transportation, from a historical nature, has always been a part of the heartbeat of a community,” Beery said. “It represents so much freedom.” 

Beery has tried retiring twice since living in Pocatello but has never committed to it. 

“It’s been pushed out a little bit,” Beery said. “I really don't know if it will get pushed out again further.”

Ryan Cole, general manager of Cole Chevrolet, has appreciated watching Beery’s enthusiasm for the auto industry for over 20 years. Cole is currently being trained to take over for Beery. 

“Art has really pushed that ‘live great’ motto out into the community,” Cole said. “It’s a great way to live.” 

Beery, from his experience in big cities all over the country, believes Pocatello should have an open mind toward “investing in the community” as a long-term, growing area. Through his car dealership lens, he believes this area will only grow as more people are drawn to it as he was. 

Nicky Beery is adding her own touch to the area with her five AirBnBs. Nicky has always loved "fixer-uppers" and found a hobby in renovating and decorating homes throughout her 29 moves with Beery.

"As soon as we moved in, I started getting it ready to sell," Nicky said. "I got pretty good at knowing what buyers wanted and what made houses easy to sell."

Nicky says she has always loved architecture and wants to improve the physical image of the Pocatello area. "What could bring that place back to life?" is what Nicky asks herself when she sees a house in need of love.

For Nicky, she feels like Pocatello doesn't look like the great place that it is, and her original plan was to buy little houses in need of fixing to help improve the town's image. 

"We do not look like a beautiful town for visitors to come in here," Nicky said. "And they don't get to see how great this is because the first impression is so sad."  

She pursued four home purchases in 2022 and later turned them into AirBnbs. She plans to continue this venture with a goal of beautifying the community while valuing the architectural taste that already exists. 

Regardless of when retirement arrives, Beery hopes to serve the community in his free time by helping them “embrace the new economy.” He is not sure what that will look like yet. 

“This is our time,” Beery said. “I really think this decade for East Idaho will be the best that it’s seen in the last 100 years.”