Drive509, a Spokane-based commercial driver’s license truck driving school that’s been operating here for nearly three years, plans to expand its rapidly growing operations starting next year.

Jason Boudreau, who owns BHO Holdings LLC, Drive509’s parent company, wants to erect four buildings on a 4-acre site on property near the intersection of North Eden Road and East Euclid Avenue. The value of the project is estimated at $980,000.

Boudreau says the property has plenty of room to build a parking and training yard for students.

“Business is going great, and we’re putting lots of people back to work,” Boudreau says.

Drive509 is currently located at 3730 E. Trent, where Boudreau leases 1.5 acres of land and a 1,000-square-foot building that accommodates eight employees.

Boudreau says he purchased the 4-acre site in mid-August. A new 4,000-square-foot structure will be occupied by the driver-training school, and three other structures will be built as commercial rental spaces. Work is scheduled to begin and end next year.

The company also outgrew previous locations at 3203 E. Main and 606 N. Fiske.

“Every month we put at least 10 people back to work,” Boudreau says. “A lot of our students who come to us are unemployed and are looking for training to get back to work.”

The average class size at Drive509 ranges between 12 and 14 students while the length of the classes are 20 days. Most drivers are hired by local employers that include food-delivery companies, utility companies, and United Parcel Service, he says.

“Maybe one, two will go over the road,” Boudreau says referring to the typical number of students in a class going on to long-haul trucking positions. Local work is keeping drivers in Spokane and Kootenai counties.

 “Construction is crazy around here,” he says.