It was April, 2004 when Iva Carter and her daughter, Tiffany, purchased the Pines Motel in Newcastle. They were living next door to the motel when it went up for sale. Iva saw a great opportunity and since she was not afraid of hard work she was ready to jump right in. She went to her bankers, Faron Ferguson and Justin Tystad of Pinnacle Bank in Newcastle, and completed an application for a Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 Loan. It took her six months to put the business plan together, but it was well worth it because her loan was the first one to be 100% complete for Pinnacle Bank. In fact, Iva was the first woman in Weston County to receive an SBA loan.

Next came all the hard work, maintenance, repairs, hiring employees, bookwork, etc. All of this gave both a very good education. Iva is a person that has to have everything Q-tip clean and she says that without a lot of good employees and family to help she couldn’t have made it happen.

Taking care of the customers is top priority at the motel and hard work is just part of the day, no shortcuts are taken at the Pines.

Lodgers can enjoy peace, beauty, birds and wildlife on the motel property. It’s like a little haven in Newcastle. Iva boasts of a tame rabbit that will get in your lap, if you like. Iva has found that even in rural Wyoming, to be competitive, it is necessary to provide modern amenities such as DSL/wireless internet, refrigerators, microwave ovens in the rooms and a continental breakfast and bedtime snacks. The motel has 11 units; from single queen rooms to triple rooms, a suite that sleeps six, a cottage and a three bedroom two bath vacation home to rent. The motel is the only AAA-Double Diamond rated motel in the area. Iva has found that having a website is a great source of advertising the motel, but says the best way is by word of mouth.

Being a Wyoming girl at heart, she returned from Ft. Worth, Texas in 1991 where she had a catering service for seven years. She attended college at EWC, receiving an AA degree in Inter-disciplinary studies in the spring of 2004. Tiffany, now 19, is attending the University of Wyoming as an Art major with a minor in Japanese. Iva is a member of the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce and past Vice President of the Weston County Travel Commission. Iva and Tiffany invite you to visit them at the Pines, 248 East Wentworth, Newcastle, Wyoming.