Hermiston chamber celebrates auto body shop’s new location

Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 9, 2026

Business owners bought property 4 years ago with eye on expansion

HERMISTON — When Jesus Jimenez and German Aguilar decided to move their auto body business to a new location, they didn’t have far to move.

The owners of Collision & Custom Auto Body moved about a 100 yards or so down the road to a new location and a new building that offers double the space.

“It’s turned out great,” Jimenez said.

The two celebrated their new location Feb. 5 with the help of the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce. A huge crowd of friends and supporters turned out for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“It was a big turnout,” Jimenez said. “People kept showing up.”

Shop originally opened in 2013

Jimenez and Aguilar opened their business in 2013 just down the road from their new location. Prior to opening the business, the two men worked together at Hop’s Auto Body in Hermiston. The owners, Marty and Kay Hopkins, turned out to be Jimenez’ future in-laws.

While working for Hop’s Auto Body, both men worked side jobs doing auto work in their free time.

“I’m a workaholic and like to keep busy,” Jimenez said. Eventually, they decided to go into business as a team.

“We always worked well together, so we thought it would be a good idea to start our own business together.”

Jimenez said he originally became interested in the auto body business after doing some research while in high school.

“I read something that said there was a high demand for auto body techs and that it paid well,” he said. That, he said, was all he knew.

“I knew absolutely nothing about cars,” Jimenez said. He began by washing cars at Hop’s Auto Body.

“I then gravitated toward painting,” he said. “I started as a prepper.”

At the time, Hop’s had a second shop in Pendleton and Jimenez went to work there before coming back to the Hermiston shop for a time.

Then the job of painter opened up in Pendleton and Jimenez took it.

In 2013, he and Aguilar decided to break away and open their own auto body shop at 1055 N. First Place.

In need of a bigger shop

Four years ago, they saw a piece of property just down the road at 915 N. First Place and bought it.

“It was working out good, but we wanted more space,” Jimenez said.

He and Aguilar initially fenced off part of the property and used it to store the vehicles they were working on while still operating out of their original location.

Eventually they were able to get their new shop built and it officially opened in November. Jimenez said the move has exceeded their expectations.

“It’s working out better than I thought it would,” Jimenez said. “Over time, through word of mouth, we built up a pretty good clientele. I never imagined we’d make it this far.”

Jimenez said customer service is their top priority.

“I feel like empathy is huge,” he said. “We do whatever we can to help our customers. We help them with the claim process. “We’ll shuttle them to wherever they need to go. We always try to please them.”

For more information on Collision & Custom Auto Body, call 541-561-0783 or visit the website.