Driving School changes locations

MOSES LAKE - A recent increase in business caused one Moses Lake driving school to outgrow its original home.

Central Washington Driving School recently moved from its East Broadway Avenue location to the former Tyke's 2 Kid's building on South Balsam Street. The move was necessary because there wasn't enough space at the old location to accommodate all the new activity, owner Angela Erickson said.

"The amount of people coming through, it was just so crowded," she said. "This building is twice as big as that one."

The new building is about 2,000 square feet and features a reception area, a large classroom, offices and room for storage, Erickson said.

The increase in activity mainly came after the driving school became a state certified testing center in December, she said. Legislation changes allowed the driving school to administer Department of Licensing Knowledge and Drive tests, Erickson explained.

"Before that we only worked with about 25 percent of the people DOL saw coming to their office," she said. "We didn't know what the other 75 percent looked like until they started coming through our doors."

With so much new activity, employees were running out of room to conduct classes and administer tests, Erickson said. They originally knocked down a wall in the old building back in April to provide more space, she said.

However, when the Tyke's 2 Kid's building opened, Erickson said they jumped at the chance to occupy the space.

"Now these guys have more elbow room, so they're excited," she said. Employees are also excited about the school's new fleet of cars, Erickson said.

"We just got four new cars, so we're starting to change out our fleet," she said.

Erickson opened the driving school in Moses Lake about five years ago. It is a branch of Central Washington Driving School in Ellensburg, which she established in 2002, she said.

"I was a driver's ed teacher in Cle Elum until 2001, when they began eliminating funding for those programs in the schools," Erickson said. "I knew it was coming, so I filled out some paperwork and opened this business in Ellensburg."

Erickson eventually expanded the business to Moses Lake after noticing a demand for driver's education in the area.

"I always toyed with the possibility, and the kids from Moses Lake started coming to classes in Ellensburg," she said. "They said they needed driver's ed in Moses Lake."

In addition to the two main centers, the driving school also holds classes a few times a year at various area high schools, Erickson said. In Grant County, they teach at Mattawa, Quincy, Royal City and Ephrata, she said.

For more information, call 509-764-8601 or visit www.cwdrivingschool.com.