A new division of Cardie Oil Inc. of Tampa is under construction at Batt Industrial Park in Marion under the city’s revitalization plan.

The building is expected to be completed in November with a vehicle service and tire store business to open soon afterward.

Jim Cloutier of Hillsboro, who owns controlling interest of Cardie and sister corporations Shawmar Oil & Gas Co. of Marion and an oil field servicing company out of Marion, has agreed to a five-year lease-purchase of the $225,000 to $230,000 building.

The city is building the 40-foot-by-80-foot metal building on a concrete pad, and Cardie will add interior fixtures.

Cloutier said, half jokingly, that he owns so much real estate in Marion that he’d like to see how one does on a lease before making a final purchase.

For patrons familiar with Cardie’s operation in Tampa, the business will look similar, but on a larger scale. It will be under the management of Cardie president Craig Settle, Cloutier’s son-in-law.

The family relationship extends throughout the related businesses with Cloutier’s son, Beau Cloutier, the president of Shawmar.

Cloutier said it will be a full-service center with tire sales and service, oil and lube service, and related merchandise. It will not sell gasoline or diesel at pumps as is done at Tampa.

A propane truck will also have its home parking space at the new station to enhance service to local customers from the company propane storage tanks already at Marion, he said.

Cloutier said the business probably will include agri-service tires and field calls for farmers. He expects to begin “with a minimum of three people employed there, more as we get more work in.”

Cloutier hopes, with the U.S. Highway 56 frontage, to be able to sign on as a branded oil company shop with one of the major oil corporations.

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