FALLON - Washaington's economic rescue effort is arriving too late for many in the automotive industry. It's estimated as many as 700 new car dealerships may close this year.

The loss of one of them is already hitting a northern Nevada community. Jetway Chevrolet, one of Fallon's two dealerships, has closed its doors and that's bad news not only for its owner and employees, but the community as well.

The Crowder family has operated their dealership on the outskirts of Fallon for more than a dozen years. Today a once profitable business, a major player in community events is gone, apparently for good. Energy prices and a changing market are one big reason.

"As a Chevy dealership, you're stuck with SUV's and trucks," says Sales Manager Steve Crowder. "I don't think they were geared up for the car market at the time. Gas prices rose and our sales just stopped. Especially diesels. They're 80 percent of our business out here in Fallon."

There was more at work than rising fuel prices. The credit crunch has hit dealerships hard everywhere and the federal rescue is coming too late to help many, but the home mortgage crisis also played a part.

To raise funding for its reorganization General Motors sold its financial arm, General Motors Acceptance Corporation or GMAC, which then became a major player in the home mortgage business. GMAC itself recently trimmed of its own 5 thousand employees from its mortgage unit. It also changed the financial arrangments with dealerships like Jetway, making it even more difficult to ride out a slow market.

GMAC representatives showed up yesterday to deliver the news. The Crowders had seen it coming and closed their doors last Friday. It's a move they never expected to make and one that hurts on more than one level. "We have 30 employees and many of them have been with us for years. They're like family. So, we're losing a part of our extended family."

The ripple effect doesn't stop there. Jetway's closing may send local customers shopping elsewhere, making it harder for the remaining dealer in town, Fallon Auto Mall to attract them alone.

The community's bottom line also suffers. Historically, auto dealerships have accounted for 20 percent or more on the sales tax revenue in Churchill County. Those numbers have been dropping the last three years, down nearly $9 million dollars in fiscal 2008. Like the jobs lost, those dollars will be hard to replace.