New Love’s Travel Stop receives community welcome
WESTMORLAND — City and county o cials, community members and local organizations turned out Thursday not only to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Love’s Travel Stop here, but to also give it a warm welcome into the Imperial Valley.
While the new business, located near the intersection of Highway 86 and Martin Road, opened June 27, the city’s Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting
served as a chance for store management to show its mutual appreciation for the community.
“Without the community, Love’s does not exist,” General Manager Sean Gilliland told those in attendance. “Without all of you, this would’ve not been possible. From the city, to the county, to the state, to the local communities: Everybody is just fantastic.”
The truck stop, which spans more than 13,000 square feet, added new 30 jobs to the county — all of which went to local residents, Gilliland said.
“We interviewed multiple applicants from this whole area, and we hired everybody within a 15 to 20 mile radius,” he said.
The Westmorland location is the 490th Love’s store within the company, and the 11th store in the state.
As with every new location, management was provided $2,000 to donate to a cause within the community they feel is worthy.
Battalion Chief Michael Ginnis said it “was just a blessing” when Gilliland presented the $2,000 check during Thursday’s ceremony to the Westmorland Volunteer Fire Department.
“They have so many other people they could’ve donated to, and it’s just a wonderful thing to be able to get from the Love’s family,” Ginnis said.
Gilliland explained he learned of the fire department, and what it deals with in maintaining operations, as he casually met Ginnis at a City Council meeting some time ago.
“The first time I came to Westmorland, he was actually the first one to talk to me. He was the one of the people that did make me feel like I was at home,” Gilliland said.
“During that council meeting, they were talking about some struggles they were having with the fire department to help protect not just our store, but our whole community.”
The ribbon-cutting concluded with two of the fire department’s water trucks lightly spraying water from each side of the Love’s parking lot.
“It’s kind of a like a christening of the building,” Ginnis said. “We’re just welcoming them into our town.”
The truck stop features offers several amenities, including Chester’s Chicken, Godfather’s Pizza and Subway restaurants; 82 truck parking spaces; 89 car parking spaces; seven diesel bays; four RV parking spaces; seven showers; laundry facilities; CAT scale and more.
As taco shops and gas stations make up a majority of the city, Westmorland City Mayor Ana Beltran said she felt the new business provided something new and exciting for residents.
“It’s something different from what we originally have,” she said. “People are looking for something different. Not that we’re not happy with what we have, but you need to have a variety. And I think Love’s is doing that for us here.”
Beltran explained the process of creating the new Love’s location took years, and was backed largely by Westmorland City Councilman Larry Ritchie, Ross Cather of CalTrans, Ismael Gomez of Imperial Irrigation District, IID board members Bruce Kuhn, James Hanks and Erik Ortega, and county Board Supervisor Ryan Kelly.
“It’s something big for our city, our community here,” the mayor said. “This coming into our community gave local people jobs. Hopefully, we can grow and prosper from here.”