Flagstaff Region Featured Business: Dallas Oberg Auto

(as published in the October 10 edition of The Community Press)

The Flagstaff Region Featured Business is a monthly newspaper and web feature presented in partnership by Flagstaff County and The Community Press.

Dallas Oberg Auto
4917 50 St., Forestburg
780-582-3530
Hours of operation:
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday to Friday

Dallas Oberg forged an entrepreneurial spirit out of necessity while growing up on the family farm southeast of Forestburg.

“You made things work and if it wasn’t working, you tried something new,” he says.

It’s that mindset that is driving the small business owner to diversify amid an aging and declining rural population.

Besides running the auto shop that bears his name on the northeast end of Forestburg’s main street, Oberg also owns the laundromat next door. And this past summer, he took over Killam Towing.

“I’m just diversifying just to stay alive,” he explains.




“Flagstaff County’s my home. It’s where I grew up. We started living in town. I got married. We just had our first little one and I don’t want to leave.”

The auto shop itself, which carries nitrous oxide and race car parts, will service “just about anything that moves,” from grain trucks to lawn mowers, Oberg says.

The shop’s diverse range of services includes everything from oil changes and tire repairs to government vehicle inspections and minor body work.

Dallas Oberg Auto is also an official Signature Tire dealer.

“We’re very unique in the services we provide,” adds Oberg. “We have a little bit of everything.”

That uniqueness is on display in the form of the shop’s unofficial show truck: a fully restored 1966 GMC half-ton.

Oberg says the pickup was his dad’s first truck.

“He’s had it since 1974. It sat for many, many, many years and I couldn’t stand to see it sit anymore, so we completely rebuilt it from the ground up. Everything is brand new and everything except the paint was done in-house – the tires, the wheels, the engine, transmission. The whole driveline was assembled here. We did everything on it.”

In addition to two shop employees, Oberg employs two tow truck drivers. His newly acquired towing company is on-call 24/7.

Meanwhile, the next-door laundromat shares the shop hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. However, Oberg will open the laundromat on weekends for special events if requested.

“If there’s a crew that says, ‘Hey, can you come in Sunday?’ Then I will come in and open for them,” he adds.

Oberg’s desire for diversification has led him to yet another venture. He’s part of a group looking to establish a race track – to be called the Area 53 Dragway – at the decommissioned Forestburg Airport.




“We’re progressively doing more and more with it,” he says. “We just laid a whole bunch of concrete and we’re trying to get enough money in order to pave it. … There’s a total of five people trying to get it going and it’s quite a struggle.”

In the meantime, Oberg says he plans to continue to diversify and serve his community.

“I try to please everybody,” he says. “I try to help everyone out as best as we can.”

Check out Dallas Oberg Auto on Facebook to keep up with Dallas and his business. 


As published in the October 10 edition of The Community Press – on newsstands today. Never miss an issue, become a SUBSCRIBER today!

The Flagstaff Region Featured Business is a monthly newspaper and web feature presented in partnership by Flagstaff County and The Community Press. For more information, contact Jenalee Blackhurst, Economic Development Coordinator, at 780-384-4152. Looking to market your business? Look no further than the area’s #1 Medium since 1908. Phone 780-385-6693 or Email ads@thecommunitypress.com today.