ERS owners are named C-W’s top businesspersons

A couple that has provided time and resources to many causes is being recognized by the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce.

Jerry and Mary Sauer, owners of Excavator Rental Services LLC and Your Party & Event Center, have been named the chamber’s “Businesspersons of the Year.”

“When we were told that we received the honor, I was surprised and humbled,” Jerry wrote in an email while visiting an ERS vendor in Japan. “There are a lot of very deserving companies in our area. To be singled out is a great honor.

“We try to help out around our communities, because it is what we love to do,” he added. “One of our companies’ core values is service — both to our customers and our communities.”

The Sauers’ contributions to the community have benefitted the Camas High School Boosters and graduation night committee, as well as the Camas Lacrosse Club, the Washougal Christmas parade and breakfast with Santa at the Washougal Festival of Trees, the Camas Christmas tree lighting and Camas Days, among other events.

The Sauers have lived in Camas since 1991.

ERS is a member of the C-W, Skamania and Greater Vancouver chambers of commerce and the Downtown Camas Association. The company is a participant in the Main Street Business and Occupation Tax Credit program, which benefits the DCA.

The Sauers donated the use of an excavator and operator to move “Erric the Erratic” to its permanent location along a trail, east of Washougal Waterfront Park, at the Port of Camas-Washougal. It will be part of a play area. “Erric” is a boulder that traveled from Canada on a glacier to this area in the Missoula Floods.

ERS is a sponsor of the Port of C-W concert series, the DCA car show, the Skamania County Fair and the Camas-Washougal Moose Lodge.

Other contributions have been made to the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, in Stevenson; Amboy Territorial Days parade and Dozer Days in Ridgefield.

Jerry is a board member of the Southwest Washington Contractors Association, and Mary is vice president of the Mt. St. Helens Institute.

ERS has provided equipment to Skamania County Fire Protection District 6. Jerry recently completed more than seven years as a fire commissioner, and Mary has served as the district secretary for close to six years.

In 2014, Sauer Development Group LLC purchased the Tidland Corporate Center, at 2305 S.E. Eighth Ave., Camas. The $3.3 million purchase from Camas Holdings, LLC, included 64,000 square feet of industrial buildings and a 6.03-acre campus. Tidland employees continue to work at the site, and ERS workers relocated there.

“It was important to both of us to find a way to keep ERS in the Camas area as we were expanding,” Mary said.

“I believe our family, friends, vendors, employees and customers are the foundation to us receiving this honor,” she added, regarding the award from the chamber.